Munich: The Edge of War
Netflix | Release Date: January 7, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
71
Paste MagazineAurora AmidonJan 20, 2022
It’s not a stretch to expect that a film about the infamous Munich Conference to be a ripe bundle of nerves and apprehension. But the film ends up being as suspenseful as a 1990s rom-com. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 21, 2022
If the movie is handsome in an oak-paneled-office way, there’s life in it too. You feel there’s something at stake for the two young would-be heroes, as there is for the world. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 25, 2022
The film still manages to be a beautifully-detailed recreation of a well-worn piece of history, most thought-provoking in its novel approach to the motivations and intent of those involved. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJan 18, 2022
Tight close-ups, jittery hand-held camera — lots and lots of jittery hand-held camera. The idea, presumably, is to impart urgency, immediacy, dynamism. Instead it causes visual exhaustion. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 12, 2022
A mixture of well-researched historical fact and pure fiction, “Munich: The Edge of War” is a smart and entertaining thriller that suffers from just one thing: We all know how it ends. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 21, 2022
A film that doesn’t quite know whether it wants to educate its audience or give it a thrill ride. It proves more interesting for the former elements than the latter, but it nonetheless delivers plenty of compelling moments along the way. Read full review
60
Screen RantChris AgarJan 21, 2022
Munich: The Edge of War is a well-made period piece able to stage necessary tension despite its real-life story being so well-known. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJan 9, 2022
MacKay is muted; his character is teased for his reserve, a quality he shares with the film. Niewöhner gives the sparkier performance, as a passionate German nationalist whose loyalty has flipped. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyJan 7, 2022
Ironically, the project’s occasional attempts to pass itself off as a political thriller slow the material down. The run time doesn’t help. A worthwhile historical curio, nonetheless. Read full review
60
Little White LiesJosh Slater-WilliamsJan 6, 2022
Director Christian Schwochow’s staging is unostentatious to the point of coming across as pedestrian, but the film is ultimately engaging thanks to the dilemmas wrestled with by the script. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 6, 2022
In place of depth, MacKay and Niewöhner invest Legat and Hartmann’s relationship with a watchable if uncomplicated friction, but it’s when the Führer himself first appears, more than half an hour into the film, that things really start to cook. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenJan 6, 2022
There’s something deeply moving, almost tragic, about a good man being slowly enveloped by the dark times around him. Munich captures it nicely. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerJan 6, 2022
An enjoyable World War II spy flick, Munich: The Edge Of War scores with strong performances and filmmaking craft, but is let down by a lack of dramatic heft. A Father’s Day watch in waiting. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 6, 2022
An ingenious, elegant counterfactual drama. Read full review
60
VarietyGuy LodgeJan 3, 2022
Immersively crafted but never emotionally involving. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJan 21, 2022
The British WWII drama “Munich - The Edge of War” starts off as a prim spy thriller and ends as an insufferable civics lesson. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleJan 19, 2022
With handsome period craft, “Munich — Edge of War” makes for a watchable, engrossing historical thriller with fictional characters situated like spies around political leaders at a profoundly tense, and ultimately woefully misjudged, moment in time. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 12, 2022
The best thing to say about “Munich: The Edge of War” is that it has an interesting take on Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister who preceded Winston Churchill. In the opinion of many historians, it’s not the correct take, but at least the movie has a point of view. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJan 20, 2022
It wants to be a high-toned nail-biter, an important history lesson and a roiling friendship drama. But because Schwochow and screenwriter Ben Powers would rather jam the components together than braid them into a cohesive whole, the movie fails at all three, straining logic (especially the poorly handled spycraft) and flattening out the emotion at every turn. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisJan 20, 2022
A plodding bureaucratic procedural that features many, many characters strategizing in various spaces with furrowed brows and clenched jaws, mostly in relentless medium close-up. Read full review
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