Capernaum
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 14, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenFeb 7, 2019
Capernaum is a searing, unforgettable work. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottDec 13, 2018
Capernaum, a sprawling tale wrenched from real life, goes beyond the conventions of documentary or realism into a mode of representation that doesn’t quite have a name. It’s a fairy tale and an opera, a potboiler and a news bulletin, a howl of protest and an anthem of resistance. Read full review
100
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 19, 2018
A social-realist blockbuster – fired by furious compassion and teeming with sorrow, yet strewn with diamond-shards of beauty, wit and hope. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDec 13, 2018
[Labaki] finds a magically resonant space between documentary-like vibe and dramatic performance that honors the characters’ inherent humanity while memorably framing the wretched circumstances that dictate their actions. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 23, 2019
Capernaum is a hard, hard watch meant to force comfortable moviegoers out of their bubbles of ease. The rewards, in no particular order, are the central figure, the young actor playing him, and the film’s magnanimous windows onto suffering and resilience. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerJan 11, 2019
Labaki is bearing witness here, and Capernaum (the name means “chaos”) doesn’t flinch from the fact that there are villains in the system. But none of them – none of them – are children. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyDec 14, 2018
There is an undeniable neorealist quality to Labaki’s work, bringing to mind not only the first half of Garth Davis’ "Lion," but also the likes of Vittorio De Sica’s "Shoeshine" and Sean Baker’s "The Florida Project" (even though it falls short of the artistic command of these titles). Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyDec 17, 2018
For all of its brutal, raw force, Labaki’s excellent film is tough sledding — a sucker punch that lands with the emotional force of Dickens relocated to the slums of the modern-day Middle East. It leaves a bruise. Read full review
83
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 9, 2018
Capernaum is a poignant character study of a boy being punished for the crimes of a system that never gave him a chance. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJordan RuimyMay 25, 2018
Capharnaüm is not without its issues. The director over-relies on the courtroom scenes and the movie’s message is heavy-handed at times. Yet, the sheer force of the filmmaking and its artful delivery overpowers sappy overreaching. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansFeb 24, 2019
Rafeea, a non-professional actor and Syrian refugee, is the film’s secret weapon. At times, the tragedy unfolding on screen feels borderline unwatchable, but his strange, fascinating, eerily adult face offers a litany of minute expressions. There is a wisdom, a soulfulness, and an icy, angry candour that feels lived rather than performed. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 21, 2019
There is passion and compassion here, and Labaki’s film brings home what poverty and desperation mean, and conversely what love and humanity mean. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerFeb 18, 2019
With two astonishing child performances, Capernaum is a real heart-breaker. It can make Ken Loach look happy-go-lucky but it’s a gripping, sympathetic cry for the dispossessed. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 16, 2019
Capernaum is a tough slog, no doubt, even by tough-slog standards. But that’s a big part of what makes it so rewarding. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 14, 2018
The sorrow inherent in this tale would be unbearable without the film’s flashes of humor and performances by a cast of nonprofessionals that are moving beyond measure. Capernaum suffers from being overly long and chaotic in structure, but there’s no mistaking its cumulative effect as an emotional powerhouse. Read full review
80
TheWrapMonica CastilloDec 13, 2018
Days after watching the movie, I still have some reservations about how abuse is shown in the film, but it’s hauntingly effective. I haven’t been able to shake those images since. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaDec 12, 2018
It’s a deeply assured piece of direction, and though it only plays a few emotional notes, they are ones that won’t soon leave your memory. Read full review
80
Time OutAnna SmithMay 24, 2018
It’s quietly absorbing and fitfully shocking as we experience the sights, sounds and smells of the streets where a one-year-old child can wander around alone without anyone stopping to wonder why. Read full review
80
CineVueMartyn ConterioMay 19, 2018
Makes for a generally powerful statement on human misery and grotesque inequality, though some third act creative decisions and maneuvers cause a wobble or two. Read full review
80
VarietyJay WeissbergMay 18, 2018
While this is unquestionably an issue film, it tackles its subject with intelligence and heart. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJan 30, 2019
Capernaum is as close to unfiltered truth as the screen or the audience can handle. Set in the slums of Beirut, it is an eye-opening insight into life at the frayed fringes of a society that seems seconds from unraveling. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonFeb 6, 2019
The acting is fine throughout, and director Labaki (she plays Zain's lawyer) has a genius for handling untutored performers like Al Rafeea. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 1, 2019
Labiki isn’t above manipulating us as she lightly underlines the points she wants to emphasize, but she never lets Capernaum turn into a lecture. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekJan 10, 2019
Capernaum is a movie with a lot of dramatic ideas and plot-points, worthy of a miniseries at least, squeezed into a two-hour sausage of misery. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMay 18, 2018
Although the narrative is structured through a highly unbelievable instigating conceit — Zain is trying to sue his own parents in court for giving him life in the first place — Labaki lures such outstanding performances out of the almost entirely non-professional cast and sketches such a credible view of this wretchedly poor milieu that the flaws are mostly forgivable. Read full review
70
Screen DailyLee MarshallMay 18, 2018
If it doesn’t tie many (or any) of these thematic strands with a neat bow, that’s in the nature of a film that chooses raw dramatic power over narrative finesse. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayJan 9, 2019
Despite small but powerful gestures in the finale, it leaves the audience feeling just as immobilized and powerless as its characters. Labaki chose the title Capernaum because the word was often used to mean “chaos” in French literature. That’s precisely what she presents to us, with precious little relief in sight. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 19, 2018
It’s a simplistic film in some ways, with a naive ending – but there is energy and vigour, too. Read full review
59
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpJan 31, 2019
Labaki’s filmmaking suggests uncertainty at best and lack of confidence at worst. She layers on the suffering too thick. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 18, 2018
Capernaum’s neorealist spirit is smothered by its sentimentality and endless string of indignities; it’s as if the film is operating as Zain’s trial defense, every moment making his case that it probably would have been better if he’d never been born. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloDec 12, 2018
Capernaum brims with compassion for the downtrodden, and that will likely be enough for many viewers (as it clearly was for the Cannes jury). But the film amounts to a series of easy emotional lay-ups, devoid of any psychological nuance or challenging inflection. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 18, 2018
Capernaum is a movie that wants its audience to empathize with its protagonist so intensely that you agree he should never have been born. It’s a fascinating (if obviously counterintuitive) approach, but one that’s frustrated by the literalness with which Labaki unpacks it. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneDec 4, 2018
Zain Al Rafeea's naturalness, however uncanny, only makes the film's maneuverings seem all the more obvious. Read full review
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