Balloon
ARP Sélection | Release Date: February 21, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 12, 2020
Filmmaker Herbig and his team prove to be especially adept at contriving situations where anything anyone does causes fear, anxiety, stress and worry, leaving everyone, very much including the audience, existing on the knife’s edge of unremitting tension. Read full review
70
Film ThreatAlex SavelievFeb 20, 2020
The movie is a heart-on-the-sleeve, old-fashioned action-adventure thriller. This Balloon may not exactly soar, but it’ll give you a satisfyingly stirring ride. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 31, 2020
In this entertainingly tense thriller, Hebrig finds extraordinary courage and understandable fear in both the Strelzyk and Wetzels. Read full review
56
TheWrapMichael NordineFeb 20, 2020
It feels like an attempt to transpose the mix of thrills and prestige of a film like “Argo” onto a different true story, a paint-by-numbers approach that’s far less compelling than drawing outside the lines would have been. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyApr 16, 2020
Balloon manages to combine slickness and sentimentality, predictability and implausibility. The fact that it’s based on a true story — the closing credits include photographs of the actual families — does not make up for the amassing of red herrings, close calls, and occasions for head-scratching. Read full review
50
VarietyTomris LafflyFeb 25, 2020
Balloon is decent entertainment to a degree, and that is mostly thanks to its handsome production values. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 20, 2020
There is nothing objectionable about Michael Bully Herbig’s glossy political thriller, Balloon, but there’s nothing particularly exciting about it, either. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFeb 20, 2020
Balloon simply doesn't feature the sort of cinematic thrills necessary to keep us fully invested in the travails of its central characters. It's not that the events are depicted in anything less than bombastic, hyperbolic fashion. It's more that the filmmaker lacks the directorial finesse to calibrate the suspense for maximum cinematic effect. Read full review
40
The GuardianPhil HoadFeb 20, 2020
How Herbig fails to capitalise on the sheer physical terror of their flight – the balloon’s basket is more a flimsily strung boxing ring – makes you wish someone like Werner Herzog had mounted this mad escapade for real. Read full review
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