Kumaré
Kino Lorber Films | Release Date: June 22, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 16, 2012
As Kumaré plays out, both Gandhi and the film become something else, something much more thoughtful and moving. It is, as he puts it, the biggest lie he has ever told and the greatest truth he has ever known. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 25, 2012
When Vikram Gandhi set out to become a guru, he didn't expect to really become a guru. But that's what happens in his slippery, ambiguous, tense and finally moving Kumaré, which is officially termed a documentary but could also be considered as the video corollary to a thorny work of performance art. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesAug 8, 2012
In a sense, the deception he practices on his followers is contemptible, but in another sense, they're all in it together. The film's implication seems to be: It doesn't matter if a religion's teachings are true. What matters is if you think they are. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJun 22, 2012
Gandhi is talented enough, and compassionate enough, that his tour of the human need to believe in something becomes not just mocking, but touching. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 19, 2012
A goal of this practical program of discipline and reflection is to cultivate an inner guru so that you don't need someone like Kumaré. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJun 18, 2012
Kumaré has a premise that could've been the launching point for one of Sascha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles's satirical outrages. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMark HolcombJun 19, 2012
Prepare to have your assumptions pitched out the window by this tense, surprisingly probing satirical documentary. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJun 19, 2012
Predictably, the documentary got a rousing reception at hipster-laden SXSW; real people might find it a touch easy. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreJun 20, 2012
Even at a slim 84 minutes, that arc is padded out with side explorations of acoustic therapy and alien-abduction communes that dilute the film's focus and only make it seem like the filmmaker's aware there just isn't much there there. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisSep 6, 2012
If they handed out a best actor Oscar for documentaries this year, the striking Vikram Gandhi of Kumare would be a shoo-in. His performance of a guru is so spot-on that it fools every one of his new followers into believing he's the real deal, not someone out to prove that their faith in him is nothing more than a sham. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumJun 21, 2012
Gandhi tries to dodge criticism of his mocking scam by rationalizing that even a phony wise man can offer real solace. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeMark FeeneySep 6, 2012
What is offensive is how the masquerade punks these other people - and to no seeming purpose, other than to provide Gandhi with footage for this documentary. Read full review
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