Retrograde
Picturehouse | Release Date: November 11, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
95
TheWrapKatie WalshNov 10, 2022
It’s the faces that stand out in Retrograde, a stylistic and thematic motif that offers an empathetic power to the film as well as an aching poignancy. Read full review
91
Original-CinLiam LaceyMay 18, 2023
Led by Reisman’s deadpan, uningratiating performance, Retrograde is a funny, uncomfortable portrait of young millennial, struggling with her loss of status and clinging to the wreckage of her past aspirations. Read full review
83
The Film StageJordan RaupDec 1, 2022
Retrograde is a powerful reminder that conflict breeds conflict and enacting a plan trying to protect a certain group of people will always leave others neglected. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinNov 11, 2022
It seems almost frivolous to note this, but the hyper high-definition cinematography is both beautiful in a savage way and adds immediacy to the viewing experience. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 10, 2022
There’s not a dull shot in the entire movie, which is remarkable, considering how little actual action Heineman films. Read full review
80
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldNov 10, 2022
The shrewdly observant film sticks with one Afghan general, Sami Sadat, to tell an emotional story that feels as significant as any analysis of troop numbers. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyDec 8, 2022
Retrograde is about many things, but it's really about the faces. The cameras linger on the faces, allowing the expressions of suffering, tension, nerves, and desperation, to take root. Read full review
75
IndieWireEmma StefanskyNov 10, 2022
To watch terror become desperation become despair is wrenching, more so because this puts names and faces to events the rest of us are fortunate enough to read about while sitting on our couches. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 8, 2022
Retrograde is a handsome film, ironically, conveying a sense of the country that is at stake, and its people. And Heineman is smart to frame the story around a single individual, as he did in his fact-based drama about war correspondent Marie Colvin, “A Private War.” Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 18, 2022
Heineman’s trust in what his camera reveals — in the forlorn faces of U.S. soldiers, in the slump of Sadat’s demeanor, in the distraught eyes of a mother caught in that Kabul airport scrum of the desperate — tells its own necessary story of war wreckage. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergNov 10, 2022
There’s so much potency in Heineman’s snapshot of sadness, disappointment and resignation, that I frequently and ultimately found myself wishing it could be the full tapestry that a six-part miniseries might have allowed. Read full review
50
The PlaylistCharles BramescoNov 10, 2022
Heineman’s thesis that because leaving has gone so poorly, staying would’ve necessarily been better is incorrect at best, and disingenuous at worst. He wants to think structurally, aware that America can and does flatten other nations beneath our clumsy footfalls. He just can’t — or won’t — see the whole structure out of apparent fear that it’ll be too unflattering for all involved, including him, the army’s useful launderer of their image-sanitizing talking points. Read full review
More From This Movie

76 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL