Paradise: Hope
Strand Releasing | Release Date: December 6, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comSteven BooneDec 18, 2013
When Melanie falls under the spell of a silver-haired pedophile as tall and trim as a Marine (Joseph Lorenz), the film gets set on its rocky path to a conclusion that fulfills the film's title and rounds out the "Paradise" series quite beautifully — if you're not afraid to look. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenDec 17, 2013
Instead of being contemptuous and sardonic, the portrait of inchoate adolescent longing in Paradise: Hope is poignant. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloDec 4, 2013
This tale of a creepy pedophilic relationship is the most tender, nuanced, and deeply felt picture Seidl has ever made. What’s more, there’s no need to have seen the other two films, as Hope works beautifully all by its lonesome. Read full review
80
The DissolveScott TobiasDec 17, 2013
Seidl has made an insightful film that’s more about the trials of a young woman’s coming of age than about being overweight. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 5, 2013
The most hopeful — and the best — of this solid and unsettling series. Read full review
80
Total FilmTom DawsonNov 5, 2013
Against the odds this is a sometimes droll and surprisingly tender affair, and a fitting end to Seidl’s magnum opus. Read full review
80
EmpireSimon CrookNov 5, 2013
Tying up his trilogy in style, Seidl's film unsettles and provokes with wit and composure. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 5, 2013
The love story – and it can be called that – between the doctor and Melanie is presented with candour and tenderness. There is a new humanity to Seidl's work; it could be his best film so far. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyNov 5, 2013
There’s uncustomary warmth here and a sensitivity to the characters’ vulnerabilities that often is missing from this director’s work. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasDec 16, 2013
The third and final film in Ulrich Seidl's "Paradise" trilogy navigates a narrow space between tenderness and cruelty. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangDec 4, 2013
We can't help but feel that by comparison with the meaty and compelling issues he takes on so fearlessly, so scabrously in the other entries, Paradise: Hope ends up somewhat toothless. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezNov 5, 2013
Paradise: Hope plays better if you’ve seen the previous two movies, so you can savor the reach and scope of Seidl’s trilogy. But the film stands alone as a tender portrait of adolescence at its most vulnerable and how we manage to survive it, even when surrounded by predators and wolves. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonDec 6, 2013
Seidl's visual style -- bitter-comic three-walled tableaux -- makes the scenario's tension between desire and reality almost unbearable, but Melanie offers hope by simple virtue of her youth, her unformed romantic folly, and her guileless courage. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie FelperinNov 5, 2013
Paradise: Hope has humor and warmth, and shows more genuine affection and kindness toward its characters than Seidl usually allows. Read full review
63
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeDec 20, 2013
This is, by some distance, the best movie of the three, and it showcases the impeccable symmetry of his compositions, while retaining his compulsion to wag a finger in your face. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonNov 5, 2013
Seidl gestures towards understanding rather than confrontation – turning in a slighter, softer-grained film than its predecessors, but no worse for it. Read full review
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