A Thousand and One
Focus Features | Release Date: March 31, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah-Tai BlackApr 12, 2023
It is tempting to call A Thousand and One a love letter of sorts, but a more accurate read might be one of heartbreak. There is love here, certainly, but more than that there is frustration, anger and sadness at the way the world refuses to help those trying hardest to endure within it. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonMar 30, 2023
First-time feature director A.V. Rockwell, working from her own script, tells an epic tale in miniature. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 30, 2023
In A Thousand and One, [Rockwell] packs a great deal into her filmmaking, which bristles with looks, gestures, bodies in breakneck motion and expressionistic jolts of color that — like Gary Gunn’s gorgeous score — complicate and deepen the outwardly simple story. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 29, 2023
This is a tough, beautiful, honest and bracingly hopeful movie about mutual care and unconditional love, with a transformative and indelible performance at its core. A Thousand and One isn’t just worth seeing — it’s worth celebrating. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMar 31, 2023
A Thousand and One is rich and complex overall, the saga of someone battling to build a family and a stable home with no real experience of what that looks like. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMar 31, 2023
The film is utterly absorbing, anchored by the unpredictable performance of Taylor, playing a hopelessly complicated, but deeply caring woman. Read full review
90
The New YorkerRichard BrodyMar 29, 2023
Rockwell’s vigorous detailing of personal life—with its evocation of inner lives—is at the heart of its political vision and of its dramatic strength. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleAlejandra MartinezMar 29, 2023
A Thousand and One paints a deeply felt portrait of maternal love and family. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 31, 2023
A Thousand and One, this year’s top jury prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival, puts you through it, but with real feeling, real stakes and an authentic vision guided by a fiercely commanding performance by Teyana Taylor as Inez. Read full review
88
The Associated PressLindsey BahrMar 29, 2023
This is not a movie that will leave you feeling especially warm and fuzzy – it is often devastating. But it’s also bursting with hope for the future in this deeply human story of how one woman decided to devote her life to ensuring that her son’s would be brighter. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineDerek SmithMar 27, 2023
The film brims with authenticity and the electrifying emotional intensity of the best melodramas. Read full review
80
EmpireAmon WarmannApr 27, 2023
Come for Taylor’s breakout performance, stay for a tender, confidently told story of Black motherhood and sacrifice. Rockwell is one to watch. Read full review
80
SlateNadira GoffeApr 4, 2023
Nostalgia may buckle you into A Thousand and One, but the ride you take is one of emotional turmoil, beauty, love, and terror. Yes, terror. Read full review
80
Time OutEmma SteenMar 30, 2023
Through its powerful exploration of what defines familial ties and the tenacity of marginalised communities in one of America's toughest cities, A Thousand and One resonates deeply. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 29, 2023
So much of this drama about interrupted lives, unexpected detours, and attempts at (re)connection requires a deep reading between the lines. That’s a big part of its power. Read full review
80
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonFeb 3, 2023
It doesn’t nail everything it set out to accomplish, but A Thousand and One is a breathtaking character study of perseverance in Black motherhood. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 27, 2023
It’s a quiet drama despite its characters’ many volatile arguments. Most of all, it’s a moving character portrait of a complicated woman who makes good and bad decisions but is motivated solely by the desire to create a better life for herself and the people she loves. Read full review
80
VarietyJessica KiangJan 27, 2023
Rockwell uses the full range of cinematic expressivity to turn a small, often tragic story of raw deals and rash decisions into an admiring portrait of survivorship, determination and resourcefulness. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 4, 2023
Rockwell’s achievement is to script a simple character study, cast it with an actress up to turning it into a tour de force, and making the entire enterprise a history lesson in the true cost of Giuliani’s “more livable city” experiment. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMar 31, 2023
Teyana Taylor holds her head high through it all. Even as the film falters narratively, she’s a force of nature embodying a person more than just playing a role. She captures the soul of a woman who knows her son needs her to navigate this dangerous world. And that she needs him too. Read full review
75
ColliderChase HutchinsonFeb 3, 2023
It is almost like a novel in how expansive it is, providing a sense of scope that can frequently leave this story feeling scattered. As the city is in a constant state of change, the lives of the characters are similarly in flux as their already pressing problems only become more and more dire. Read full review
75
The Film StageJake Kring-SchreifelsFeb 1, 2023
Rockwell has plenty time to develop into a more distinguished storyteller, though her directorial instincts have a staggering specificity. This is a movie that gets gentrification right––she thrives in showing the way brief observations out a window paint a larger picture––and connects little dots from childhood to adulthood. Read full review
75
IndieWireRyan LattanzioJan 27, 2023
Rockwell’s direction is sophisticated and visually imaginative even as the movie could benefit from a tighter edit around its New York cast of characters and the rapidly changing city in the hands of mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. Read full review
70
Little White LiesCheyenne BunsieApr 20, 2023
A Thousand And One is a powerful ode to resilience and community, as well as a passionate rebuke against the forces that produce devastating consequences for those they sweep aside. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 27, 2023
Rockwell respects her audience enough to trust that we’ll be invested in Inez and Terry’s odyssey because of the nuanced performances. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRobert DanielsJan 27, 2023
While A Thousand and One is a breathtakingly beautiful portrait of Black womanhood and is thoughtfully political, the character beats heave with a noticeable unevenness. The fascinating parts rarely add up to a satisfying interpersonal whole. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonMar 29, 2023
A more fleshed-out character might have grounded a last act burdened by an unconvincing plot twist, an odd moment of wish-fulfillment, and an over-reliance on the clichés that befall Black people in urban-set films. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineJacob OllerMar 30, 2023
As the film moves further and further from its inciting secret, watching Inez and her son age, it fades beneath their countless tone-shifting hardships—revealing a film stronger when its close-shot realism is echoed in the script. Read full review
60
The GuardianAdrian HortonJan 27, 2023
There are many things working well in Rockwell’s debut, Taylor’s performance chief among them, but the end result doesn’t match her character’s formidable strength. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithMar 31, 2023
It’s a cousin to other superficially gritty but essentially cloying movies about the traumas of urban striving, such as “Precious” or “Moonlight.” Read full review
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