American Factory
Netflix | Release Date: August 21, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 23, 2019
It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know — and to the rise of the machines. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 21, 2019
Late in the extraordinary new Netflix documentary American Factory, Cao DeWang, the Chinese CEO of the Fuyao Group, wonders aloud, “I don’t know if I’m a contributor or a sinner.” Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 21, 2019
Filmed with extraordinary attention to environmental detail and revealing human interactions, American Factory is that rare documentary that’s not only compelling in its content but a profound sensory pleasure. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 20, 2019
Complex, stirring, timely and beautifully shaped. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayAug 19, 2019
By telling their stories, entertainingly and persuasively, Bognar and Reichert make the case that they all deserve better. Read full review
91
The Film StageJordan RaupFeb 2, 2019
Thoroughly engrossing ... The way the directors are able to provide a portrait of empathy on all sides is astounding. Read full review
90
VoxAlissa WilkinsonAug 22, 2019
American Factory tackles the challenges of globalization with much more depth and nuance than most reporting on the topic, precisely because it steps back to watch a story unfold over time and resists easy generalizations. It’s both soberly instructive and fascinating. Read full review
90
CNNBrian LowryAug 21, 2019
It's a nuanced, thought-provoking documentary. Read full review
90
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiAug 20, 2019
Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert have produced in “American Factory” an invaluable snapshot of a moment where history is repeating itself, and trying to write a new, possibly dystopian ending. But it’s also a film full of beautiful human beings, trying desperately to make good for themselves and their families regardless of their nationality and culture. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiAug 21, 2019
Because it is the first film to be released by Higher Ground, the production company formed by Barack and Michelle Obama that signed a highly publicized deal with Netflix, American Factory will no doubt find an audience far larger than the typical documentary focusing on the contemporary labor movement. Read full review
85
Film ThreatAlan NgOct 24, 2019
American Factory is an example of my favorite type of documentary. It’s one that merely documents. It has no agenda to push, even though one grows organically throughout. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 22, 2019
The movie, which bowed to uniformly rave reviews at Sundance earlier this year, is also — it will probably be noted ad nauseum — the first film collaboration from Barack and Michelle Obama’s new production company Higher Ground. But the heart and soul of American Factory, like all American factories, is never really politics of course; it’s people. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 2, 2019
The movie never lacks for insights into the nature of the disconnect. Read full review
80
Vanity FairK. Austin CollinsAug 30, 2019
The realities documented here would seem to merit judgment from filmmakers so clearly invested in the subject. But the film itself feels noble, gentle. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 20, 2019
The real world is not a just or simple place, this thorough, compelling documentary points out, no matter how deeply we may wish it were. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 20, 2019
American Factory sets out to chart what’s supposed to be a test run for the future of the auto industry and an example of positive international relations. It ends up capturing a cross-cultural car wreck in slow motion. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyAug 19, 2019
The filmmakers’ probing analysis reveals the basic principles of freedom and dignity within the political essence of labor issues. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 15, 2019
There are toe-curling culture clash moments. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 26, 2019
American Factory is anything but a dry documentary, and will likely be a prime contender in awards season. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanFeb 2, 2019
Both intimate and epic, American Factory offers a remarkably candid, fly-on-the-wall account ... It’s a deceptively lighthearted look at one of the most significant cultural and economic conflicts of our times. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 7, 2020
American Factory is too dispassionate to be a rallying cry, too sobering to be a “wake-up call,” but still a terrific fly-on-the-wall look at the struggles of America’s working class. Read full review
67
The PlaylistAndrew BundyAug 21, 2019
The work is emotionally instructive but thematically unfocused. Despite having a fascinating story to tell and some illuminating subjects, American Factory comes off as slightly over-zealous, educationally speaking, and is without a manageable sense of moral edification as an observational documentary. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergFeb 2, 2019
That nobody becomes a realized character with an emotional arc is just a place American Factory falls a little flat. Read full review
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