On the Adamant
Kino Lorber | Release Date: March 29, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
95
Film ThreatSumner ForbesMay 6, 2024
In a perfect world, Philibert’s film will serve as a wake-up call for reconfiguring how we approach the treatment of mental illness on a global level. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiMar 29, 2024
This is a soft-spoken but ultimately powerful work that makes the case for the importance of empathy in treating those with mental illnesses, and makes you hope that programs like the one depicted here will one day become the norm. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 6, 2023
The film’s observational approach means that little context is provided for the techniques used here, or for the lives and circumstances of the daily visitors. But the warm, non-judgmental embrace of Philibert’s approach is profoundly affecting. Read full review
80
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsNov 3, 2023
What’s most important here is how Philibert captures the patience of the nurses and attendants, who never ever interrupt or talk down to the people whose conditions and wellbeing are L’Adamant’s raison d’être. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 2, 2023
There is a gentle and very happy sense of freedom and possibility aboard the Adamant, and there is enormous warmth, sympathy and human curiosity in this film. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerFeb 25, 2023
What emerges is not only a depiction of psychiatric treatment administered with plenty of warmth and enthusiasm, but a portrait of several individuals who, despite their noticeable disabilities, are capable of producing original and moving works of art. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeFeb 25, 2023
On the Adamant is most moving when it stands back, letting its most disenfranchised subjects talk, or shout, or sing. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 26, 2024
Philibert’s fly-on-the-wall documentary is all the more effective because the director refuses to pretend that he isn’t visible — not in this place where people come to be seen, and not merely looked at. Read full review
75
The Film StageRory O'ConnorDec 20, 2023
Where the film succeeds in drawing you into all that life, however, it does so in a patchwork of moments that never quite suggest a whole. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaMar 28, 2024
That Philibert doesn’t stick to a “main character,” or impose a phony narrative arc, vibes well with the facility’s free-spirited methods, even if the documentary lacks the drama of a more structured production. Read full review
70
Screen DailyJonathan RomneyFeb 25, 2023
It’s clear that this one is waving a flag for the positive possibilities of an empathetic, culture-centred approach to mental care. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDavid RobbMar 1, 2023
Unwilling to risk subjectivity or authorial input, and also lacking in the forensic detail that might have provided a more in-depth analysis of the Centre de jour l’Adamant and its functioning, On the Adamant ultimately feels half-formed. Read full review
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