Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 1, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinKim HughesJul 12, 2022
Filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, inspired by the Alan Light’s book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah, leave almost no stone unturned in their quest to examine the enduring appeal of “Hallelujah” across the years and mediums. Read full review
90
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 8, 2022
Rather than structure their movie as a chronological biography, the co-directors, Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine, wisely focus on the genesis of Cohen’s most celebrated and performed song, “Hallelujah.” This approach allows them to interweave Cohen’s entire career while also avoiding the one-thing-after-another sprawl that often bogs down these kinds of films. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 30, 2022
The documentary’s account of the song’s fate, indebted to Alan Light’s book “The Holy or the Broken,” is a fascinating study in the mechanics and metaphysics of pop-culture memory. Read full review
80
NMEMark BeaumontSep 13, 2022
There are as many ‘Hallelujah’ stories as people who’ve listened to it, of course, but in pinpointing a precious few, Hallelujah… does a fine job of unravelling just some of the song’s multitudes. Read full review
80
TheWrapSteve PondSep 14, 2021
Does the film explain “Hallelujah?” Of course not – the song stubbornly resists explanation, because it’s so many different things and because there’s a beautiful mystery at its heart. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song is smart enough to embrace that mystery and that beauty, and to know that there’s far more to Cohen than can be summed up in four, or seven, or even 150 verses. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerJul 21, 2022
It is a rare song that deserves its own book, but Hallelujah is one of them. The story is a doozy. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 30, 2022
Narrowing the focus to this song elevates the film and its subject, and makes a fascinating window into one creative life, lived in curiosity, looking for answers and groping — for seven years — just to come up with a song that explains it all. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergSep 14, 2021
If Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song is nourishing only to a certain point, there’s plenty of Leonard Cohen scholarship out there. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneJul 20, 2022
In Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song, it feels like two different docs were threaded together. As interesting as I found it, the film was trying to focus on two parts of a story when it needed to be just one. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJason BaileySep 14, 2021
Gellar and Goldfine manage the tone expertly, inserting little jolts of humor to keep things from getting too reverent. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 7, 2022
What turns out to be the most moving and meaningful thing about the film isn’t the song at its center, but the work ethic of a man who might have disappeared from the public eye for years at a time but never stopped sweating every word. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid BrowneJul 1, 2022
Hallelujah isn’t a definitive, life-spanning doc on Cohen’s life, nor does it claim to be, but the tale of “Hallelujah” serves as a metaphor for Cohen’s life. Read full review
60
Screen DailyWendy IdeSep 14, 2021
This is filmmaking which echoes Cohen’s music style – it’s contemplative, searching and stripped back, but it can also be somewhat navel gazing, ponderous and very slow. Read full review
60
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 14, 2021
Hallelujah is one for the fans, thorough and informative, like a set of cinematic liner notes, largely content to marvel at the majesty of its subject and the vibrant afterlife of his work. Read full review
58
IndieWireElla KempSep 14, 2021
There are flashes of deep emotional resonance . . . But there’s also a huge amount of whiplash, as the wide-reaching documentary attempts to crystallize something as mercurial as this through performers, fans, lovers, haters, naysayers, believers. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJul 1, 2022
A lot of substantial or just different material might have enriched this documentary’s tidy fall-and-rise story. Read full review
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