Between the Temples
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: August 23, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshAug 23, 2024
Crafted with care and a distinct point of view, Between the Temples is the kind of film that bears rewatching just because you want to spend more time with its idiosyncratic rhythm and energy. Singing in its own key, there might not be a more authentic and purely entertaining film this year. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comIsaac Feldberg Aug 23, 2024
There’s a core sweetness to “Between the Temples” that shines through. Gently but firmly, the film insists upon the miraculous nature of all the meandering paths we end up taking: in search of our lives, without a clue where we’re going, toward those who’ll give us meaning. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 22, 2024
The movie is consistently funny, but its humor tends to be fairly gentle because it’s rooted in human behavior rather than in condescending, judgmental ideas about such behavior. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenFeb 12, 2024
A comedy about learning to live with grief, Between the Temples has a lot going on in its head and heart. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy LodgeJan 21, 2024
There’s a sweetness here to Silver’s typically jaundiced humor, an affectionately gilded frame around his broken-off character portraiture, that feels both new and entirely natural to his work. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesJan 21, 2024
Schwartzman has been a lead before, but never quite like this. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesAug 22, 2024
I suspect where the plot goes will be polarizing; I’m not sure they landed the plane was my first thought when the credits rolled. But days later, Between the Temples has stuck with me. On the zoom out, I think it’s simply marvelous. Read full review
88
Washington PostTy BurrAug 22, 2024
It’s a tricky balancing act to find humor in stereotypes while seeing the human beings behind them — affection and a few years of distance can help — but “Between the Temples” walks the tightrope with wobbly yet confident grace. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 21, 2024
Although sometimes dizzying and disorienting, the visual language of Between the Temples is relentlessly alive, with the camera never considering-slash-allowing for the possibility that its audiences’ eyes might wander. Read full review
88
The Associated PressJake CoyleAug 19, 2024
There is a wonderful feeling in “Between the Temples” that anything can happen at any moment. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 29, 2024
A wealth of contrasting stimulation gives the film a singular and intimate atmosphere, in which scenes can last little eternities while still leaving you feeling as if you’re struggling to keep up with a stream of secrets and in-jokes. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 22, 2024
Underneath the prickly screwball banter, the jokes, the movie-isms, the occasional zaniness are probing questions about how we define ourselves and whether a community of faith can still represent something more important than gossip and an annual Holocaust remembrance bake sale. Read full review
83
TheWrapJan 21, 2024
Between the Temples is not solely about organized and labeled relationships and religion, but the humility behind that faith and the ways in which it is intricately shared, like birds of a feather flocking together. Read full review
83
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 21, 2024
Ultimately, Between The Temples is achingly, evenly deceptively sweet and from the heart. It’s a dexterously comic but moving examination of a life interrupted, seemingly demolished, and a life of unfulfilled dreams, clashing, colliding, and perhaps finding a tender togetherness that suggests second chances and no term limits on coming of age Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 21, 2024
In focusing less on the happiness we imagine for other people than on the happiness we get to share with them instead, it finds enough fleeting joy to make being alive feel like its own eternal reward. Read full review
83
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 21, 2024
A screwball comedy that never forgets a dramatic weight, Silver’s latest feature is a hilarious, touching, and acerbic tale of picking one’s self back up and not being afraid to pursue what is truly desired. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyAug 23, 2024
Carla, in “Between the Temples,” is given a terse but powerful backstory, and Kane conveys the character’s historically infused idealism, fierce purpose, and caustic humor with tremulous vulnerability and life-rich lucidity. She and Schwartzman expand Silver’s intimate cinematic universe beyond its frames and map it onto the world at large. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyAug 21, 2024
The most anxious Jewish comedy since the Coen brothers visited Jobian trauma on Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man stars Carol Kane as an adult bat-mitzvah student. This alone would justify the admission price, but there’s more. Read full review
80
Little White LiesHannah StrongAug 20, 2024
It’s a wonderfully observed and extremely witty film about the faith we have in a higher power and each other, and its uncertain conclusion mirrors the apprehension both Ben and Carla have about where they’re going in life. Read full review
80
The GuardianAdrian HortonAug 19, 2024
For all the characters’ misery and misfires, Between the Temples is a winsome journey. It’s a little weird, a little sweet and a lot of awkward – a testament not just to the Jewish tradition but the faith we can learn to have in each other. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 30, 2024
Between the Temples is covered in these sores, full of stories that are funny from the outside and will be funny when told with hindsight. And it is funny. But it’s the honesty, our understanding of the how and the why behind these truthfully conveyed pains, that lodges Silver’s film in your heart. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 21, 2024
It’s easy to predict what will happen narratively in Between the Temples, but it’s not nearly as easy to predict what these characters will actually do, what they’ll say and how they’ll act. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 3, 2024
Silver’s given us a wry, wise and whimsical movie who cutting edges are somewhat removed from the lead characters, whose wit involves both leaning into Jewish stereotypes, and upending them. Read full review
75
Original-CinKaren GordonAug 22, 2024
There is a gentle, sad, sweet core to Between the Temples, though American indie director Nathan Silver seems determined to discourage any feelings of sentimentality in a movie that could easily have tipped in that direction. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonAug 20, 2024
Between the Temples emerges as a quirky and effective showcase for two actors known for playing oddball characters. Read full review
75
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerJan 30, 2024
Between the Temples is a bit slight, but brings with it a lot of sweetness, especially thanks to Schwartzman and Kane, and the chemistry they find together. Read full review
70
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannFeb 9, 2024
As Between the Temples reveals more layers to him, Schwartzman deftly uncovers something much deeper. There's grief there, but there's also a profound ability to love without shame and that is perhaps the most revelatory thing of all. Read full review
70
Screen DailyNikki BaughanJan 21, 2024
There’s a lightness of touch to the performances, with Silver encouraging his actors to improvise on-set. Events may have made Ben something of a sadsack, but Schwartzman ensures there is still a glimmer in his eye, a hint that his lust for life is simply dormant. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsAug 22, 2024
The film is at its best when it’s sitting just with them, not doing much, not trying too hard to be eccentric; just shooting the breeze and being cheerfully weird. Read full review
60
ColliderRoss BonaimeFeb 2, 2024
Silver's vision doesn't always work, sometimes feeling like a mishmash of ideas and tones that don't always go well together. But when the film focuses on this central relationship, Between the Temples finds a lovely sweet spot that makes it all sing. Read full review
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