Barbara
Adopt Films | Release Date: December 21, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 21, 2012
It's one terrific film, as smart, thoughtful and emotionally involving as just about anything that's out there. Read full review
100
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeDec 20, 2012
Petzold raises questions of honor and builds the romance with an absolutely rigorous lack of sentiment, moving Barbara to a sweeping finish as emotionally satisfying as any this year. Read full review
100
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 20, 2012
Barbara is a film about the old Germany from one of the best directors working in the new: Christian Petzold. For more than a decade Mr. Petzold has been making his mark on the international cinema scene with smart, tense films that resemble psychological thrillers, but are distinguished by their strange story turns, moral thorns, visual beauty and filmmaking intelligence. Read full review
100
IndieWireEric KohnDec 20, 2012
The movie's stakes are alternately personal and political, but Petzold's skill truly comes into focus in the tense climax, when those two aims come together with a powerful act of defiance. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsDec 19, 2012
Petzold handles personal, formal, and political concerns in such perfect balance, it's difficult, and not especially desirable, to separate one from the next. The movie is dense but never feels it, assembled with easy mastery and engrossing throughout. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 7, 2013
The whole film is an exercise in trust and the lack thereof. In the end, it’s a kind of horror film, really, a reminder that these sorts of things were endured by so many for so long, with hope an unlikely ally. Read full review
90
NPRStephanie ZacharekDec 20, 2012
It's a movie that works its magic slowly, and on multiple levels; it's a historical drama, a mystery and a love story. And Hoss' performance is simply one of the finest of the year. Read full review
90
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonDec 18, 2012
A transfixing Cold War thriller set in the East Germany of 1980, Christian Petzold's superb Barbara is made even more vivid by its subtle overlay of the golden-era "woman's picture," the woman in question being Dr. Barbara Wolff, brilliantly played by Nina Hoss in her fifth film with the writer-director. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesSheila O MalleyMar 6, 2013
Petzold is a master at creating the kind of tension that can be felt on a subterranean level, a sort of acute uneasiness that can't be easily diagnosed, fixed, or even acknowledged by the characters. This is well-trod ground for Petzold, but never has it been so fully realized, so palpable, as in Barbara. Read full review
80
Time OutEric HynesDec 18, 2012
Despite being the subject of nearly every shot in the film, Hoss maintains an air of mystery, simultaneously projecting severity, sensitivity and sensuousness throughout. Read full review
80
EmpirePhilip WildingDec 17, 2012
Tough and tender, it's the best Iron Curtain drama since "The Lives Of Others." Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 17, 2012
The weird oppression and seediness of the times is elegantly captured, and Hoss coolly conveys Barbara's highly strung desperation. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerDec 17, 2012
A slow-burning Cold War drama that will reward patient viewers with its ultimate emotional payoff. Read full review
80
Total FilmEllen E. JonesDec 17, 2012
Not only has director Christian Petzold assembled a fascinating hill of beans, but there's a moonlit scene that almost alone justifies his Silver Bear win at Berlin. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMar 8, 2013
The movie examines the possibility of maintaining one's humanity in a truly oppressive society. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianStan HallJan 31, 2013
Fans of European cinema will recognize in Barbara the calling cards of director Christian Petzold: the icy, quiet intensity of his muse, Nina Hoss; pretty but strangely unsettling shots of the windswept east German countryside; and subtle subversions of the thriller genre wherein the suspense is drawn from decisions made in mundane settings, such as the workplace. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenJan 4, 2013
Barbara is intriguing because the script subtly plays off that expectation, not denying it so much as expanding it, showing us that the grey world can contain, and even embrace, contradictory colours. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 20, 2012
In the vein of such recent classics as "The Lives of Others" and "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Christian Petzold's Barbara re-visits the quiet, everyday tragedies of the Iron Curtain era, when paranoia ran deep and for very good reasons. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisDec 20, 2012
What Hoss is asked to play - and does play with great skill - is the fine line between self-protection and hauteur. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJohn SemleyDec 16, 2012
Most compelling in Christian Petzold's latest is the way the filmmaker adeptly conducts his tides of Cold War paranoia. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 17, 2012
A story of love and subterfuge in 1980 East Germany that never quite accelerates into an outright thriller, Barbara reps another assured collaboration between director Christian Petzold and his main muse, actress Nina Hoss. Read full review
67
The PlaylistChristopher BellDec 18, 2012
Though maybe a bit too stiff and straight-laced, Barbara is a frequently subtle, moderately interesting character study set in a grievous East Germany during the 1980s. Read full review
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