Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
Kimstim Films | Release Date: April 13, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 9, 2018
Clearly, this is not a film for everyone, but even though the routine gets highly repetitious, some of the heavy metal numbers are stirring. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 9, 2018
Sadly, it’s not quite as fun as that sounds. If you’re up for something deeply and unsettlingly strange, though, Bruno Dumont’s portrait of the saint as a young zealot has genuine oddball pleasures amid stretches of real tedium. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 4, 2018
Dumont's imagination is fertile, but not exactly full when it runs close to two hours. What's always evident, however, is a punk-rock respect for Joan as a symbol of exuberant outrageousness. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsApr 13, 2018
Imagine a cross between "Annie" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," only with more speed metal. Now imagine a lot of long takes of sometimes merely adequate, sometimes sneakily brilliant performers doing simple dance steps or sing-talking reams of theatrical dialogue (adapted from Charles Peguy's religious mystery play). Read full review
0
The PlaylistBradley WarrenApr 12, 2018
Dumont’s uncompromising approach to the material makes for a love-it-or-hate-it affair, and it should be clear where this particular viewer fell on that spectrum. Read full review
70
Screen DailyLisa NesselsonApr 12, 2018
For those who remain seated, this is a strange and forthright cinematic object with considerable rough-hewn charm. Those who recall Jesus Christ, Superstar will feel faint pangs of familiarity at the mix of sincerity and crazed audacity. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 12, 2018
If only the music and lyrics were more memorable, then “Jeannette” might have delivered on its potential. But Dumont has a stiff, fixed-camera style that deprives the story of its transcendence. Read full review
40
The GuardianLeslie FelperinApr 12, 2018
One can never quite tell with Dumont if he’s deadly serious about all this or laughing up his sleeve. That’s sort of what makes his work fascinating, although in this instance, viewer patience is severely tested. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerApr 12, 2018
The fact that the director once again displays a true mastery of his craft, from Deffontaines’ exquisite framing to the decision to record all the songs live rather than having them lip-synched (apparently one of the only times this has been done since Straub-Huillet’s 1975 movie Moses and Aron), makes for a transfixing, if sometimes excruciating, cinematic experience. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnApr 12, 2018
Even though it doesn’t aim for outright comedy, Dumont doesn’t deny the material some levity. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyApr 12, 2018
Dumont films Joan’s spiritual conflicts and confrontations with playful exuberance but avoids frivolity; the ardent actors infuse Joan’s spirit of revolt with the eternal passions of youth. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGlenn KennyApr 12, 2018
“Jeannette” throws the modern back at the medieval, making no distinction between religious ecstasy and that experienced in certain contemporary contexts of music and ritual. It’s a provocative proposition that yields a film of genuine spiritual dimension. Read full review
80
Village VoiceKristen Yoonsoo KimApr 12, 2018
There’s no hint of irony in this film (I don’t think it would work if there were); in fact, Jeannette succeeds in its earnestness, adapting its words from Charles Peguy’s works, but countering it with the pure, joyous silliness of its presentation. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyApr 11, 2018
It’s often more strikingly funny-looking than laugh-out-loud funny. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineCarson LundApr 10, 2018
It's true that the disorientation produced in the collision of Igorrr's frenetic style-mashing and Dumont's unadorned long-take aesthetic ensures that the film feels remarkably distinct from prior cinematic adaptations of Joan of Arc's life, but it's also hard not to wonder how this particular story might have played without the farfetched musical conceit grafted atop it. Read full review
83
The Film StageEthan Vestby
While it’s definitely hard not to crack a smile at all the head-banging that ensues, or how almost outright tacky and frankly uncool the film risks being at times with its bevy of musical numbers, they speak to the overall earnestness and conviction that arises from the film. Read full review
60
CineVueChristopher Machell
Much like young Jeanette, there is no compromise in Dumont's vision that mixes the irreverent and the austere. Read full review
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