Finding Vivian Maier
Sundance Selects | Release Date: March 28, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 28, 2014
Maier is a great artist who discounted adulation entirely. Her life was a masquerade; her genius, quite literally, was unexposed. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 26, 2014
More connect-the-dots detective thriller than traditional doc, John Maloof and Charlie Siskel’s revelatory riddle of a film unmasks a brilliant photographer who hid in plain sight for decades working as an eccentric French nanny. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 18, 2015
The truth is far stranger. And Maloof and Siskel reveal it only gradually. They structure their documentary thusly — negatives found, fame and acclaim follow, a post-mortem triumph. And then the REAL Vivian starts to emerge. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 24, 2014
One part personal mystery and one part art-appreciation class. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesMary HoulihanApr 4, 2014
It’s a big puzzle that the filmmakers piece together in an intriguing and engrossing way. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 3, 2014
Vivian Maier is a great Chicago story. And what she did for, and with, the faces, neighborhoods and character of mid-20th century Chicago deserves comparison to what Robert Frank accomplished, in a wider format, with "The Americans." Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanApr 24, 2014
Hers is a sad story, but the fact that she never received recognition during her lifetime isn't part of its sadness. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 17, 2014
Through dogged research and interviews with the (now-grown) children Maier cared for, along with their parents (including Phil Donahue), a profile emerges, and it's fascinating. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMar 27, 2014
What we find out about Maier, revealed in self-portraits as a striking woman with a singular sense of self, is fascinating. Read full review
80
Village VoiceErnest HardyMar 25, 2014
Because her tale is so fascinating, movie-making formula is all that's needed. Read full review
80
VarietyRob NelsonJan 21, 2014
[An] initially playful, ultimately haunting documentary. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 30, 2014
There are no hard truths to be found in Finding Vivian Maier (really, how could there be?), but it’s an engrossing doc nevertheless – a portrait of an American artist hiding in plain sight, a mystery with too few clues, and a sincere inquiry into how best to divine the wishes of the dead. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 24, 2014
One of the great strengths of Finding Vivian Maier is the filmmakers’ willingness to gently thread ethical inquiry in and out of the film. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoApr 10, 2014
An engaging documentary attempt to probe her mystery, and it offers some answers - she was secretive and stubborn, a hoarder of epic proportions who seems to have had fits of instability. She also wasn't always nice to her young charges. Read full review
75
NPRElla TaylorMar 28, 2014
The resulting documentary, Finding Vivian Maier, might better have been titled Constructing Vivian Maier — not because the filmmakers came up empty-handed, but because what they found out sheds too neat and tidy a light on her unsparing, yet warmly sympathetic portraits of the denizens of Chicago's seamy underside. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanMar 27, 2014
Some may find Finding Vivian Maier invasive, since Maloof and co-director Charlie Siskel delved into its namesake’s past after her death, but their curiosity is genuine rather than prurient; this is the rare example of a documentary about an enigmatic subject that doesn’t pretend to know all the answers. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeMar 26, 2014
John Maloof’s documentary has an opening both apt and witty: Talking heads, one after the other, struck dumb by the mystery at hand. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneMar 27, 2014
Even as this fine documentary unveils the "mystery woman," as she once described herself, it remains intent on the molding of her myth. [31 March 2014, p.80]
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 27, 2014
The film, which [Mr. Maloof] directed with Charlie Siskel, is absorbing, touching and satisfyingly enjoyable because Maier was a fascinating, poignant and somewhat enigmatic woman. Read full review
70
The DissolveScott TobiasMar 26, 2014
The question of whether Maier, a recluse, would have ever wanted someone like Maloof to bring her into the light is troubling, and perhaps impossible to resolve, but Maloof’s passion for her work and his boundless curiosity about her history certainly make for a riveting documentary. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijJan 21, 2014
[A] sleekly assembled and intriguing if clearly very commercial proposition. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyApr 17, 2014
The chief problem is the documentary’s misapprehension of the artistic personality. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 4, 2014
She was a true talent. And yet Maloof and Siskel’s film presents an interesting moral quandary along with its profile of an amazing photographer. When does creative ability and the desire to share a true artist’s eye trump what has to be considered an invasion of privacy? Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick McCarthyMar 26, 2014
This is less a portrait of an artist as a young woman than a psychological evaluation of a slippery subject. Read full review
60
Total FilmSimon KinnearDec 14, 2014
Mostly, it’s a study of an analogue ghost turned digital star; yet because Maloof is vested in building Maier’s reputation, the film leaves some uncomfortable questions about the ethics of posthumous fame. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid ParkinsonJul 14, 2014
An intriguing look at a lost voice. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 26, 2014
Maier’s images are truly stunning—vivid documents of the working class that are off-the-cuff yet rigorously composed, always capturing that enigmatic bit of her subject’s soul that leaves you in spine-tingled awe. Read full review
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