L'Attesa (The Wait)
Oscilloscope | Release Date: April 29, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMay 5, 2016
Mostly, we watch Binoche’s face, in eloquent, mesmerizing close-up; pain and grief engulf her expression like water flooding into a still pool. She has few words. She doesn’t need them. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryMay 12, 2016
The lead actresses, like the story, work in subtle ways. There’s plenty of potency in small gestures, anecdotes and shared glances. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 5, 2016
L’Attesa — also known as “The Wait” — is atmospheric and moody, serious and full of portent; and if it weren’t so good, it would probably be unbearable. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaApr 29, 2016
What Messina lacks in substance in his storytelling, he mostly makes up with raw feelings. We come to care through our own powers of observation, and that might be enough. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 28, 2016
The film is a moody and lyrical contemplation of grief and the connections that can be found within the void of loss. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 28, 2016
The performances are vivid and moving, but there is ultimately less to this well-made, impeccably acted film than meets the eye. Its meticulousness is to some degree a flaw, an evasion of nearly every variety of human messiness. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijApr 25, 2016
Audience’s tolerance for this kind of heavy-handed, occasionally very mannerist symbolism may vary, though Messina does ensure that the religious parallels never completely eclipse the contemporary characters. Read full review
60
Screen DailyLisa NesselsonApr 25, 2016
The entire film is a game of cat and mouse in the emotional equivalent of slow-motion, made watchable by elegant compositions and De Laâge’s natural beauty. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 25, 2016
Benefiting enormously from its evocative Sicilian setting, this widescreen experience makes bewitching use of space, time and sound, creating an almost meditative atmosphere in which patient-minded auds might respond to its themes. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 28, 2016
The only way to enjoy this movie is to concentrate on its frequently stunning compositions and ignore the fact that none of it makes even a tiny lick of sense. Read full review
58
The Film StageZhuo-Ning SuApr 25, 2016
In the end, like a breath of stylized, impassioned hot air, L’attesa evokes feelings associated with bereavement effectively but has nothing substantial to add to the whole psychology of loss. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGary GarrisonMay 24, 2016
What The Wait really needs is more: more story, more character, and more reason to grieve with these women. Because what these women have to grieve is worthy of time and attention, yet these qualities are frustratingly absent from this film. Read full review
40
CineVueJohn BleasdaleApr 25, 2016
The Wait consistently defies common sense in order to sustain the thin narrative. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonApr 27, 2016
Binoche's hushed histrionics, though, are of a piece with the fruity portentousness of L'Attesa. Read full review
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