Past Life
Orion Pictures | Release Date: June 2, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJun 14, 2017
Despite some cumbersome moments, the film delivers a to-the-point message about how the sins of the parents can be visited on the children. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 13, 2017
Past Life is best appreciated as an attempt to finally give permission, at the source of the grievance (Israel), not to forget, but to at least forgive. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJun 2, 2017
This is a striking and thought-provoking picture. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 1, 2017
Uneven but ultimately effective, convincing in mood and emotion despite its melodramatic plotting, Avi Nesher's Past Life is straight-ahead filmmaking heightened by a connection to a pervasive Israeli reality not often found on film. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 21, 2017
Ultimately, it’s the kind-of mystery that undermines Past Life’s emotional kapow. You can hardly fault writer/director Avi Nesher for trying to tease suspense out of the story, but he establishes early an ominous tone and stubbornly holds steadfast to it. Read full review
63
Slant MagazinePeter GoldbergMay 29, 2017
Its improbable story gives breath to the burden of fate on those living with a past unreconciled. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJun 1, 2017
Past Life is a page-turner that transforms into a clarion call: always compelling, but slightly stifled by noble intentions. Read full review
60
Village VoiceKenji FujishimaMay 31, 2017
Past Life does add up to more than the sum of its heavy-handed miscalculations. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Gayle MacDonaldJul 13, 2017
The narrative is tightly written, fast-paced and delivered with a scorching, emotional intensity by the actors. The timeline – which moves from the dank cellars of wartime Poland, to concert halls in 1970s Berlin and Sephi’s staid music academy in Jerusalem, is smoothly interwoven. Still, the drama seems overwrought at times, even cliché. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghJun 22, 2017
Despite the seriousness of the subject matter and the characters’ complex emotional journey, the film turns into something of a thriller with twists that, given the context, beleaguer believability. Read full review
50
Washington PostMark JenkinsJun 15, 2017
Past Life is a family melodrama in the guise of a murder mystery. Strong performances and the shadow of the Holocaust lend the story poignancy. Read full review
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