Proxima
Vertical Entertainment | Release Date (Streaming): November 6, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 11, 2019
A significant, ambitious and entirely impressive film by a dazzling young French director in full command of her ship. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy LodgeAug 1, 2020
An unostentatious but quietly dazzling meditation on womanhood in the largely patriarchal space race, Alice Winocour’s highly satisfying third feature outdoes many more lavish Hollywood efforts in evoking the otherworldly emotional disconnect that comes with space travel, all without leaving terra firma for the vast bulk of its running time. Read full review
85
PolygonSamantha NelsonNov 6, 2020
In Penny Dreadful, Green demonstrated an ability to alternate between seeming preternaturally confident and absolutely tortured, and that contrast is on full display in Proxima. Read full review
82
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpNov 25, 2020
Proxima is a well-considered story about the cost of ambition, intimate in contrast with its scope, and frankly a great depiction of what it’s like to be the kid caught between parents and careers. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangNov 5, 2020
Winocour shows us smart, sometimes insensitive and fundamentally decent people navigating an extraordinary situation and the sacrifices that are made in service of a grand collective undertaking. Read full review
80
Time OutSophie Monks KaufmanAug 24, 2020
Winocour does brilliant work at enlarging the minute details that define the way the wind is blowing in this relationship. Read full review
80
CineVueSara MericanAug 4, 2020
It’s a fiery mix of ambition, mother-daughter love, female empowerment and childhood dreams – the gravities of each masterfully held together in the film, like planets in the canvas of space, revolving harmoniously around the sun. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentJul 28, 2020
Another Glum Space Mum, but one who feels complex and real. While the film depicts extraordinary circumstances, it always keeps the hearts (and heads) of its mother and daughter in focus. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerSep 11, 2019
This superbly crafted yet intimate family drama is so realistic in terms of its setting and technical specificity, it sometimes feels like a documentary. ... It’s perhaps a tad deliberate in spots, hitting its central theme too heavily on the nose, but Proxima pulls off an impressive balancing act between the personal and the astronomical. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussNov 6, 2020
For the most part, however, Proxima enthralls with its deep dive into the mechanics of astronaut training. Green presents a woman with the right stuff for it, but maybe she can’t give up the parts of herself the job demands. It’s a stress test the actress passes with flying colors. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandNov 5, 2020
The drama ramps up to a satisfying final act, and while Winocour and Green don’t splash out on surprises, the emotional value of Proxima soars high above the fray. Read full review
75
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 11, 2019
This is a very quiet and contemplative film driven by characters above plot. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 5, 2020
An unusually affecting film by Alice Winocour. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsNov 5, 2020
What’s dredged up by every bit of the film’s fabric and style is a sense of isolation. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmNov 6, 2020
The vast majority of this picture is extremely well done, which is what makes its sudden misstep into wish fulfillment sentimentality during the final twenty minutes all the more of a letdown. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAndy HowellSep 13, 2019
It is that kind of “inside the life of an astronaut” angle that keeps the film reasonably engaging, even if you don’t care too much about the characters. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubBeatrice LoayzaNov 4, 2020
Yet in striving to carve out a distinctly feminine experience within the male-dominated profession, the filmmaker loses sight of the person inside the space suit, falling back on the family/career dilemma in a way that feels archaic and, for the most part, less than insightful. Read full review
58
The PlaylistElla KempSep 11, 2019
A film that takes so much care to spend time on a different perspective—on the woman juggling ambition and love without sacrifice—feels vital. At the same time, during the restrained and contemplative journey that precedes liftoff, “Proxima” often feels like it is waiting for a more devastating threat – you can do all the preparation in the world, and it still won’t prevent the fallout of the big leap when it happens. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeSep 7, 2019
The film falls back on a reductive rumination on the balance between maternal obligation and career aspiration. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisNov 5, 2020
Torn between the maternal and the cosmic, the tactile and the unearthly, Proxima feels as unsettled as its heroine. Read full review
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