Manuscripts Don't Burn
Kino Lorber | Release Date: June 13, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
88
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 26, 2015
Putting aside the worthiness of its politics, this is also a crackling, tense thriller, graced with beautifully measured performances, that explores with wisdom and sorrow the best and worst in human nature. Read full review
100
Boston GlobePeter KeoughAug 21, 2014
The government, even under the new, more moderate leadership of President Hassan Rouhani, has reason for concern. Unlike Rasoulof and Panahi’s previous, more metaphorical films, this one confronts its subject head-on with unflinching candor. Read full review
100
IndieWireEric KohnJun 12, 2014
Rather than relish in the stark proceedings, Manuscripts Don't Burn preys on its viewers' imagination, leaving several deaths and other dreary outcomes off-screen. In the unbearable tension of its final moments, the movie arrives at an expected destination, but the outcome stings more than anything preceding it. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 10, 2014
The film, while wrenching and audacious, is crafted with that humane and observational mastery of great Iranian cinema of recent decades. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 12, 2014
Its violence is low-tech... and its look is old-school, but its message could not possibly be more momentous. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJun 13, 2014
Easily the most daring and politically provocative film yet to emerge from Iran. Read full review
80
Total FilmSimon KinnearDec 14, 2014
The initially cryptic plotting and low-key realism are familiar from Iranian dramas; what’s striking is how Rasoulof shifts into such a lucid, gut-punching tale of persecution. The film’s flaws are forgivable; its very existence should be applauded. Read full review
80
VarietyAlissa SimonJun 12, 2014
A brave, challenging picture that makes the viewer complicit in the action, it is also perhaps the first film since the declaration of the Islamic Republic to confront so directly the brutality of the feared security apparatus. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonJun 12, 2014
An unflinching portrait of state-sponsored evil, Manuscripts Don’t Burn feels like the work of an angry artist who has been jailed, censored and harassed too long. This time it’s personal. Read full review
50
The DissolveSam FragosoJun 11, 2014
Rasoulof’s dissident return to filmmaking is ultimately little more than a sporadically searing, though more often unfocused and listless treatise on the pervasive censorship enforced by the autocratic Iranian government. Read full review
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