Mistaken for Strangers
Abramorama | Release Date: March 28, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 26, 2014
The finest rock doc since "Anvil: The Story of Anvil." Matt Berninger, lead singer of the National, is a 40ish indie-rock star who carries himself like a hip lawyer. Read full review
91
The PlaylistGabe ToroMar 24, 2014
With its rock doc trappings, it’s impossible to ignore that Mistaken For Strangers delivers on that front, with thrilling and candid on-stage footage that allows the band’s music to come alive: if you weren’t a fan before, you will be after the film. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 27, 2014
A tale of two brothers, one band and a boatload of psychological baggage, Mistaken for Strangers is, like its maker, scruffy, undisciplined and eager to be loved. The big surprise is how easy it is to comply. Read full review
88
New York PostSara StewartMar 26, 2014
Not since “American Movie” has there been such an entertainingly clumsy, warts-and-all documentary about making a movie, this time courtesy of Cincinnati filmmaker Tom Berninger. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJosh ModellMar 27, 2014
Mistaken For Strangers is as much a film about its director as it is about The National, which may qualify it as an entirely new kind of rock doc. Read full review
80
EmpireAli PlumbJun 23, 2014
It could easily have been a workaday music doc, but amid all the gigs, pit stops and sound checks emerges a funny and wry story of brothers at work. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenApr 3, 2014
A documentary that's insightful, sweet and often hilarious. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 10, 2014
What might have been just another anodyne promo piece or solipsistic valentine instead becomes a funny, eccentric and finally deeply poignant depiction of art, family, ­self-sabotage and the prickly intricacies of brotherly love. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 7, 2014
Berninger is hero and villain of this comic essay in ineptitude masquerading as a rock band on tour doc. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaMar 28, 2014
Mistaken for Strangers was a group effort. And also an act of love. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnMar 27, 2014
Only the band's continuing popularity makes his journey stand out. Like its director-star, Mistaken For Strangers struggles admirably but can only go so far before letting the established talent win out. Read full review
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsMar 26, 2014
Mistaken For Strangers, which covers Tom’s time with the band and his subsequent attempts to piece together a movie about that time, is a sweet, funny, and sad film, but also an exceedingly odd one. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 24, 2014
Less a rock-doc than a surprisingly affecting look at sibling dynamics in a creative family where one brother is vastly more successful than the other. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie ScheibMar 24, 2014
Mistaken for Strangers, a documentary about indie group the National, comes off like an exercise in self-deprecation. As much a diary film as a rockumentary, it almost compulsively veers away from its ostensible subject. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 26, 2015
The result is an amusing, and occasionally touching meditation on fame, sibling rivalry and ambition, with a sweet payoff. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJim FarberMar 27, 2014
The movie reveals plenty about the budding relationship between Matt and Tom. In the end, the film offers a portrait of fraternal commitment that’s both strange and sweet. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMar 26, 2014
The brotherly-love epiphany to which the film builds does effectively pluck the heartstrings, but there’s a lingering sense that we’re being had. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaMar 24, 2014
Adds up little more than an anguished man using the hook of following his famous brother in order to gaze, however critically, at his reflection for 75 minutes. Read full review
40
Village VoiceSimon AbramsMar 25, 2014
Mistaken for Strangers doesn't reveal anything about Tom but his own insecurity. Read full review
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