No Place on Earth
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 22, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 11, 2013
Add one more extraordinary survival tale to the canon of Holocaust documentaries: No Place on Earth. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanApr 18, 2013
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this story is that it would have been lost to history had not American spelunker Chris Nicola happened across mundane relics -- buttons, shoes and the like -- while exploring the cave complex in the 1990s. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeApr 4, 2013
The film is built from moving, frank interviews with survivors from two families who hid, speaking over and around extensive re-enactments. Passages from the memoir of one family matriarch, Esther Stermer, in many ways the heroine of the tale, also are used as narration. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMar 8, 2013
A well-crafted documentary variation on "Defiance," Ukrainian Jews saving themselves by going underground -- literally. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsApr 3, 2013
This story isn’t untold, just largely unknown. It’s a minor point, perhaps, but a sticky one, a needless elision that blurs the all-important question of how memories, and history, must be recounted to endure. One telling is not enough. Read full review
65
NPRMark JenkinsMar 21, 2013
Although the story is told with narration rather than dialogue, Tobias relies too much on reconstruction. A more inventive melding of documentary and docudrama would have benefited the film, whose most moving scenes all involve real members of the families. A bit more historical and geographic context would also be useful. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 18, 2013
The first-person remembrances hit you where you live, while everything else (including a bland musical score by John Piscitello) often creates the opposite of the intended effect: It keeps you at arm's length from an extraordinary story. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelMay 2, 2013
The film is not without its flaws, but the story it tells is both terrifying and inspiring. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldApr 4, 2013
The bare facts of the feat seize the imagination, even if Ms. Tobias’s competent documentary doesn’t quite rise to the challenge. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMay 9, 2013
Fascinating but frustrating. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleLeah ChurnerMay 1, 2013
Some chronicle is better than no chronicle, but the past exists only in the retelling; how history is written is as important as the story itself. Don’t these survivors deserve better? Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsApr 25, 2013
The film indulges in sentimental and sensational tropes. The manipulative touches do more than dis­­­­­­tract, they irk. This story could have been retold without resorting to all the unfortunate formulas used in prime-time and cable fare. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineTina HassanniaApr 2, 2013
A remarkable story made almost unremarkable in the hands of lazy filmmaking. Read full review
40
Village VoiceLily JaniakApr 2, 2013
The stats relayed at the movie's end...almost have more impact than the narrative. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearApr 2, 2013
This story is both uplifting and awe-inspiring. It deserves to be told better. Read full review
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