Path of Blood
Paladin | Release Date: July 13, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time OutSarah BradburyJul 25, 2018
As eye-opening as it is disturbing, with little in the way of commentary, it’s a patchwork of raw, brutal images that weave a chilling narrative of youthful naivety and adventure being warped into death and destruction. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinJul 11, 2018
As a film this is anything but banal, and operates as a potent reminder of the randomness, and casual cruelty of modern terrorism, the way it leeches out the humanity of victims and perpetrators on both sides. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJul 13, 2018
Powerful, devastating, depressing and deeply unsettling, the documentary Path of Blood by British filmmaker Jonathan Hacker gives new meaning to the word terror. Read full review
75
Film Journal InternationalChris BarsantiJul 12, 2018
Path of Blood is more an immediate experience, and as such succeeds in unexpected ways. The human normality of what it shows is nearly more sickening than the carnage itself. Read full review
70
Film ThreatJoshua SpeiserJul 26, 2018
What elevates Path of Blood above a mere rote retelling of a far-flung conflict which was has since subsided, is how deftly the filmmaker knits in the footage filmed by the Al-Queda members themselves with other source material. By doing so, the filmmaker both humanizes these young men — some of them boys really — who seem like lost souls in search of some ill-defined adventure while at the same time magnifying their pitiless violence and zealotry, not an easy feat. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanJul 25, 2018
In Path of Blood, the masks come off, and we literally see the faces of Al Qaeda in action, with the propaganda machine turned off. What’s shocking is how ordinary and high-spirited they appear. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJul 19, 2018
The movie is both a painful reminder of how Muslims are most often the victims of terrorism and the kind of behind-the-scenes glimpse at everyday evil...that reveals a confounding bizarro world where the inexplicable and mundane mix. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJul 12, 2018
Watching Path of Blood is frequently a queasy experience, and given the bewildering array of names and complications, not always an illuminating one. But it commands attention as an object lesson in the banality of evil. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 13, 2018
It makes for a chilling portrait of fanaticism at work, even if it is more historical than anything worthy of “let’s feel that fear again” topicality. Even if we suspect its designed to gin up more support for our Islamic ally in the Middle East. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKaren HanJul 11, 2018
Documentary is an inherently tricky field, requiring objectivity, but Path of Blood leans so far into it that any sense of narrative or purpose dissolves. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonJul 9, 2018
The film in effect positions young jihadis less as fervid, bloodthirsty psychopaths and more as dumb kids at summer camp. Read full review
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