Life, Above All
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 15, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAug 31, 2011
The film's ending is improbably upbeat: Magic realism, in a sense. It works as a deliverance. Dennis Foon's screenplay is based on the novel "Chanda's Secrets" by Canadian writer Allan Stratton. It is a parable with Biblical undertones, recalling "Cry, the Beloved Country." Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesSep 1, 2011
Director Oliver Schmitz is particularly attentive to the superstition and ingrained sexism that make life miserable for these people, though he also seems to view women as the country's best hope. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaAug 25, 2011
Perseverance is the theme of Life, Above All, a drama that is deeply affecting, if also overwhelmingly bleak. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 14, 2011
A grave and quietly moving story about a South African girl of extraordinary character, does something that few painful dramas accomplish: It tells a tale of resilience without platitudes about the triumph of the human spirit or without false promises about an unclouded future. Read full review
80
TimeMary PolsJul 14, 2011
The director and his splendid cast assure that this tale about a strong little girl fighting to keep her family alive and together has both high art and a big heart, audience appeal and gut impact. Read full review
80
EmpireAnna SmithJul 10, 2011
A tough but very rewarding watch. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 22, 2011
In its third act, Life, Above All takes a bit of a dip into la-la land, in terms of believability – how precisely is an impoverished family supposed to have afforded an ambulance and hospice care? – but that doesn't diminish the emotional impact of Manyaka's performance and the idea that courage can be infectious, too. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreSep 21, 2011
Whatever the grownups say, Manyaka's Chanda is the one person in this village who understands how simple things really are, that it really does come down to Life, Above All. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsAug 12, 2011
In such a bleak story, the redemptive ending seems rushed and unconvincing, but director Oliver Schmitz has sent us a timely dispatch from a forgotten corner of the world that is honest above all. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrAug 4, 2011
To a Western audience, the movie may at times feel pat, cooked up, wishful beyond realistic measure. But we're not the ones who need to see it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJul 21, 2011
What matters most in this sad, sobering movie is not what anyone says; it's what goes unsaid for most of the running time. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyJul 16, 2011
It is a dark drama to be sure and it does carry with it a whiff of disease-of-the-week melodrama, yet there is also transcendence in the tale; as bleak as the film is, it is not without hope. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 14, 2011
This is a modest film, and an affecting one. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangJul 10, 2011
It's an absorbing, vividly inhabited tale nonetheless, never exploiting its horrors but rather treating them as tough local realities. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnJul 18, 2011
The reason to care about Life, Above All doesn't stem from its bleeding-heart plot...The reason to care is newcomer Khomotso Manyaka, who nimbly shoulders a role that places her front and center in nearly every scene. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubAlison WillmoreJul 14, 2011
The ending, which offers a hint of relief, is unfiltered, frankly unbelievable melodrama, but something grimmer and more measured would be intolerable after everything that comes before. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJul 14, 2011
Walks a line between didactic allegory and realistic drama. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 15, 2011
Director Oliver Schmitz's rhythms take a while to ease into, and admittedly, there is never a bright moment. Read full review
60
MovielineMichelle OrangeJul 14, 2011
The scenes between the young actresses are the film's most compelling: Both first-timers, Manamela and Makanyane are possessed of extraordinary faces and plain attitudes. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJul 12, 2011
The sincere director, Oliver Schmitz, injects too much movie into his movie; life (above all) would have been enough. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezSep 15, 2011
The movie tends to lapse into soapy melodrama and heavy-handed preaching whenever possible, and the feel-good ending that appears out of nowhere essentially negates a lot of what has preceded it, adding one more moral to a movie already weighed down by life lessons. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. MusettoJul 15, 2011
A downer that too often resorts to melodrama. Read full review
50
NPRElla TaylorJul 15, 2011
The script groans beneath a mass of symbolic winking and declamatory exposition that has the unfortunate effect of turning the villagers into credulous simpletons, ready to blow with any wind that carries them. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterNatasha SenjanovicJul 10, 2011
Its schematic structure oversimplifies the drama, despite an interesting, mostly debut cast. It seems better suited for the small screen. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonJul 12, 2011
Life, Above All suggests that ignorance and stigmatization are a problem only in the village, not in the highest office of government. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineIlya TovbisJul 19, 2011
By the time the narrative winds toward its key revelation, even the most earnest viewer is numbed and emotionally desensitized by the unfathomable bleakness already overcrowding the screen. Read full review
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