Rams
Cohen Media Group | Release Date: February 3, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 3, 2016
Despite its affection for the quirks of its characters and their milieu, the film is most memorable for its gravity, for the almost tragic nobility it finds in sad and silly circumstances. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlFeb 2, 2016
The movie, wry and melancholy, doesn't linger over its artistry. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernFeb 10, 2016
The film’s glacial pacing and drily absurd tone mimic their relationship with a bit too much discipline. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 5, 2016
Rams confirms what I have long maintained: Often the best films come from the unlikeliest places. Read full review
90
VarietyAlissa SimonMay 26, 2015
As Hakonarson’s beautifully modulated film progresses, recurring images contrast and poignantly resonate with meaning. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 18, 2016
Resonant and surprisingly affecting. Read full review
88
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeFeb 3, 2016
Director Grímur Hákonarson excels at building tension through long takes, and the actors are excellent. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloFeb 3, 2016
All Iceland all the time, and while it failed to snag a foreign-language Oscar nomination (after winning the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes last year), it does its country proud. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 4, 2016
Rams is so much its own film that figuring out where its unusual, unpredictable plot will end up is difficult if not impossible. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonFeb 4, 2016
Few viewers anywhere will be immune to the movie’s charms, or the performances, notably that of Mr. Sigurjonsson, who makes Gummi a slightly mournful, enormously lovable and quixotically heroic figure. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonWendy IdeFeb 2, 2016
This low-key charmer of a movie packs an unexpected emotional punch once the brothers finally manage a rapprochement of sorts. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonFeb 1, 2016
Switching from dour humour to humanist drama without seeming contrived, this is a masterclass in combining character and landscape that is played with deceptive poignancy by the excellent leads. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 26, 2015
Rams is a truly remarkable, eccentric work. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMay 26, 2015
Hakonarson observes all this with the practiced eye of a good documentarian but, in the compositions, the rigorous timing of the editing and the performances of the two leads, he lifts the material beyond the observational to a modestly accomplished work that not only neatly observes an obscure lifestyle but brings to life a most peculiar sibling relationship. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterMay 26, 2015
Rams may sound bleak and unforgiving but it has a generous spirit and wit that make it entirely accessible. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 10, 2016
If you can adjust to its rhythms, which move according to the seasons and to long-held family grudges, you’ll find it quietly funny, sometimes quite sad, and ultimately rather profound. If you can’t, you’ll be left in the cold with the sheep. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMichael UpchurchFeb 18, 2016
Where the film falters is in establishing a cohesive tone. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorFeb 14, 2016
There’s lots of wisdom here, but in the Icelandic barrens, good cheer has sometimes gone missing. Yes, there’s a price to pay for being stubborn. Read full review
75
The Film StageRaphael DeutschFeb 4, 2016
Rams is a quiet, contemplative and intriguing film of a subdued nature that continually manages to hold one’s interest. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 3, 2016
Rams is an involving, at times curiously exciting film, because the story is so clean and simple and we always know what's at stake. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 1, 2016
Every moment in writer-director Grímur Hákonarson's strange and wonderful film is imbued with mystery and revealing dignity. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangJul 22, 2015
When it reveals its true colors late on, as less of an examination of a rarefied lifestyle and more of an ancient story of brotherhood broken and remade, the cumulative power of all those observed moments comes through. Read full review
60
The GuardianCaspar Llewellyn SmithSep 16, 2015
Rams is as curiously captivating as the bleak landscape in which the two protagonists site themselves. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonFeb 11, 2016
If the ultra-slow pacing, sparse dialogue and depressingly gray pallette don’t get you, perhaps that super big close-up of a toe-clipping session will. Read full review
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