A Perfect Day
IFC Films | Release Date: January 15, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 21, 2016
With an eclectic soundtrack that features...well-timed editing and crisp cinematography — and of course that terrific cast led by the great Del Toro — A Perfect Day is a rough-edged gem. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJan 15, 2016
The characters in A Perfect Day don’t get to indulge in much eccentricity because they’re too busy banging their wills against bureaucratic idiocy. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Jan 13, 2016
Director de Aranoa keeps things moving, though, with a firm sense of pace and a rough, punk-edged soundtrack. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 14, 2016
This wonderful little film, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and set “somewhere in the Balkans” in 1996, is extremely witty and light on its feet, yet it manages to be thoughtful, even philosophical, in an absurdist way, about the roots of human conflict. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonJan 12, 2016
A Perfect Day is a wry salute to the hard-drinking, eye-rolling aid workers of the world, men and women whose high ideals get crushed by global bureaucracy and local recalcitrance. Read full review
70
Screen DailyLee MarshallMay 22, 2015
The humanity of the enterprise, hovering between sympathy and ironic detachment, keeps the script on course, delivering a story that for all its motley-band-of-brothers clichés feels as authentic as many more pious takes on the Bosnian conflict. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJan 20, 2016
Del Toro’s low-key resignation gives the film what power it has, but the female characters (played by Mélanie Thierry and Olga Kurylenko) are disappointingly thin. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJan 14, 2016
On a moment-to-moment basis, A Perfect Day is reasonably engaging, mostly because of its novel milieu—there haven’t been many films about foreign aid workers, and Farías clearly amassed a wealth of anecdotes during her time with DWB. Trouble is, it plays like a collection of anecdotes. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 20, 2018
It’s never less than watchable, but I can’t say it’s particularly memorable (save for that soundtrack). Perfectly Netfixable adventure in a minor key. Read full review
63
New York PostLou LumenickJan 20, 2016
The ironically titled A Perfect Day isn’t entirely successful, but Del Toro is wonderful and there are many well-judged moments, some involving a 9-year-old (Eldar Residovic) whose return to his home underlines the tragedies of this particular conflict. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineClayton DillardJan 10, 2016
The film finally seems conspicuously at odds with itself, neither funny nor impassioned enough to pass as an accomplished vision of transnational welfare. Read full review
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