22 July
Netflix | Release Date: October 10, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 5, 2018
As with his United 93 and Captain Phillips, filmmaker Paul Greengrass has taken a horrifying true story and brought sober perspective to it — in the case of 22 July, suggesting that a community’s response to terror can be as critical to a democracy as the attacks themselves. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 5, 2018
It's both a pulse-pounding depiction of the deadly attacks that shook Norway in 2011 and a sober investigation of the aftermath, evolving into a gripping courtroom drama and a tremendously emotional personal account of one family's struggle to move on. Read full review
100
The GuardianDanny LeighSep 5, 2018
Refusing to make Breivik spectacular, the film pays tribute to process, how Norway gave him precisely what he was entitled to so as not to give him what he wanted – scale, martyrdom, glamour. Read full review
91
ConsequenceRandall ColburnOct 9, 2018
22 July is a thoughtful, gutting achievement that you’ll likely never want to watch again. Greengrass’ approach here is graceful and deeply resonant, but it’s undoubtedly draining, especially considering you still have roughly two hours to go after the shootings that ignite the narrative Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 9, 2018
Working closely with master editor William Goldenberg, Greengrass has given 22 July a relentless, remorseless quality, insisting on a matter-of-fact style that allows no escape from reality even while refusing to push anything too hard. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyOct 10, 2018
22 July is at its most engrossing and moving in its depiction of one brave kid, a victim of Breivik who was shot five times and lived, and that kid’s eventual resolve to face the terrorist in court. Read full review
88
The Associated PressMark KennedyOct 10, 2018
With tenderness and toughness, Greengrass has made a great film about a terrible act. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 5, 2018
It is less a true-life thriller than a kind of justice procedural – and a sharp, scouring work of moral seriousness from Greengrass. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 9, 2018
Can’t we just stipulate that everything that Greengrass is saying is right, and then go see “A Star Is Born” again? Can’t we give ourselves a break? Read full review
75
Washington PostMark JenkinsOct 9, 2018
Greengrass employs a handheld camera effectively, as usual, to simulate confusion, panic and terror. He cuts away from the most horrific moments of slaughter. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangSep 5, 2018
Crudely put: it is distancing to hear people cry for help or speak anguished, halting truths from their hearts in a second language, and for all the bruising effectiveness of the filmmaking at times, it’s a distraction which 22 July never quite overcomes. Read full review
75
IndieWireMichael NordineSep 5, 2018
Though full of anger and grief, the film is more than just a screed. Greengrass’ docu-real aesthetic doesn’t allow for grandiosity even when he gives in to more heavy-handed impulses. He’s on a soapbox at times, but his message is worth hearing. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 11, 2018
There’s no doubting its power. This film will take a piece out of you. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 5, 2018
It’s intelligently stern, storm-gray filmmaking, as we’ve come to expect from Greengrass; if it feels a bit mechanical as well, perhaps this is a near-impossible story to film with both tact and soul. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOct 10, 2018
The numerous characters presented in the film probably dilute its overall dramatic power. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyOct 10, 2018
Taken together, the film is kaleidoscopic, sober, and also a bit glib. 22 July is exceptionally choreographed and tough to sit through, but it also leaves an uneasy, bitter aftertaste knowing that the movie is probably exactly the kind of continued attention a deranged narcissist like Breivik would have wanted. Read full review
66
Paste MagazineWill LeitchOct 10, 2018
As moving as the families’ recoveries can be, and as earnest as Greengrass is at trying to honor their stories, there is an undeniable waft of the familiar in his dramatization of their difficulties. Greengrass hasn’t found a new spin on this sort of material. You admire the resilience, but I’m not sure Greengrass makes you feel it. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 11, 2018
Just like the families of the victims in the film who feel nauseous at the prospect of making a celebrity out of Breivik and spreading his toxic ideology, I feel a little queasy at the chilling, captivating portrayal of him by Anders Danielsen Lie. I feel uneasy being “captivated” by any of this, period. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 10, 2018
Fiction that hews close to fact, the movie is serious and meticulous, yet hollow. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerOct 8, 2018
22 July takes a helicopter view of a terrifying, unthinkable tragedy, perhaps flying too high to capture all the nuance, complexities and emotion. Still it has great stretches and a terrific performance by Anders Danielsen Lie. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 4, 2018
The film is as intelligent and committed as you would expect from Greengrass, but basically pretty conventional, like a very classy TV movie. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenSep 5, 2018
Greengrass’s heart lies in exploring the ways a nation processes such a horrific, unexpected event, but Breivik’s odious ideas also get a comprehensive airing along the way. It makes for an uncomfortable, challenging watch. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 5, 2018
The first forty minutes or so are – as you would expect – a harrowing recreation of the bombing and the crime. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 10, 2018
With 22 July, Greengrass pushes up against the boundaries of respectful representation, traipsing queasily close to outright exploitation with his reenactment of the 2011 Norway terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 77 people, many of them children. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansOct 14, 2018
The decision to turn the film into a procedural with a redemptive ending feels like an attempt to grasp at justice, but it’s harrowing to watch all the same, yet offering little context and few fresh insights. Read full review
25
The Film StageRory O'ConnorSep 8, 2018
The director over-simplifies the killer, portraying a perpetrator of some of the most heinous acts imaginable as a basic fool with mommy issues. It’s crass and careless stuff in a crass and careless movie. Avoid at all costs. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineDerek SmithOct 7, 2018
That a drop from John Williams’s Jaws score wouldn’t be out of place on this film’s soundtrack goes to show how tactlessly Paul Greengrass milks tragedy for titillation. Read full review
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