The 33
Alcon Entertainment | Release Date: November 13, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
19
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsAllen SalkinNov 11, 2015
The best part is that unlike “Lost,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “The Sopranos,” you won't be left scratching your head about the thrilling, completely satisfying ending. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanNov 18, 2015
[Director Patricia Riggen] has made an old-fashioned film about brotherhood. “Old-fashioned” remains mainly a compliment here; it refers to efficient storytelling, a victory of some kind for each character (except one minor player), and English-language stars who put on accents with mixed success to play South Americans. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattNov 16, 2015
An inspired fantasy sequence midway through hints at the more intriguing movie The 33 might have been; instead, its tragedy-to-triumph narrative aims mostly for width, not depth. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Eva SalinasNov 13, 2015
As millions watching the eventual rescue understood, the strength of those miners and the unlikely hope of their families, was utterly captivating. Their survival moved me deeply then and, with The 33, it still does now. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyNov 13, 2015
This unabashedly crowd-pleasing movie gets to its uplifting but also somewhat disquieting conclusion and coda (which, as is the custom these days, introduces the audience to the real-life miners) with its integrity intact. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKatie WalshNov 10, 2015
Despite the predictability of storytelling, The 33 is an undeniably rousing picture. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottNov 12, 2015
With the help of some solid performances and James Horner’s heart-squeezing, throat-constricting score (one of the last he composed before his death in June), The 33 holds your attention and pushes the required buttons. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 13, 2015
Inspiration is what The 33 is selling. And it's hard not to get caught up in the rescue. You forgive the movie its faults, or most of them, because its heart is firmly in the right place. Read full review
63
Washington PostMark JenkinsNov 12, 2015
The inspirational docudrama nicely evokes the havoc of the initial cave-in, but spends too much time above ground to convey the existential horror of the almost-buried men. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonNov 12, 2015
As shaky as the situation it depicts. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 10, 2015
Antonio Banderas plays the growling veteran miner who shows flint and organizational moxie when the worst happens. And Lou Diamond Phillips, laying it on thick, is the guilt-ridden colleague, trapped with the others, whose job it is “to keep these men SAFE.” Which he does. Repeatedly. Loudly. Passionately. Read full review
60
TimeJohn AndersonNov 14, 2015
The world may have seen the outcome, but it’s still convincing, a story of courage without platitudes, and it features one of Antonio Banderas’ best performances in years. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 12, 2015
Massaging the facts to pump up the drama is a necessary evil in a film like this, but The 33’s cinematic beats are so familiar that they undercut the sense of realism that would make it more compelling. Read full review
60
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekNov 10, 2015
The 33, directed by Patricia Riggen, makes a valiant effort to tell this harrowing story onscreen, and there are moments when every shifting plate clicks right into place. In the end, though, the picture stumbles, and it may not completely be the fault of the filmmakers. Read full review
60
Screen DailyWendy IdeOct 12, 2015
There is no question that this is an extraordinary tale of human fortitude and resilience: at least some of the tears that will be shed in the film will be honestly earned. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianJeff BakerNov 13, 2015
What happened in Chile really was a triumph of the human spirit, as cliched as it is to write that sentence. The miners deserved a better movie, but that's not how it works. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 12, 2015
The 33 has a disappointing lack of depth for a movie about being trapped 2,400 feet below. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartNov 13, 2015
It’s never a good sign when the real people behind a movie’s story appear in the end credits and you’re stumped as to who’s who. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 13, 2015
The root problem of The 33 is that, in attempting to do too much, it succeeds at too little. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughNov 12, 2015
Only in the epilogue does the film mention that none of the miners was compensated and no one was held responsible. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisNov 12, 2015
Even the brilliant Juliette Binoche, a welcome presence in any film, is reduced to whipping up empanadas and looking wistfully beyond a fence — basically standing there and doing nothing. And this is one of the most developed characters in the movie. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 12, 2015
What these men endured is remarkable, and the logistics of the rescue are remarkable as well. The 33 settles for an unremarkable chronicle of that endurance test. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubBenjamin MercerNov 12, 2015
Stalled in management mode for much of its duration, Riggen’s film nonetheless has its solid elements, one of them being Banderas’ energetic lead performance. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNov 11, 2015
Might be more engaging were it not for the melodrama heavily larded into the screenplay (cobbled together by numerous writers). Read full review
50
TheWrapTasha RobinsonOct 29, 2015
The whole film becomes as mechanical as the oversized drills in play at the rescue site. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenOct 29, 2015
Director Patricia Riggen finds a rigorous and affecting visual language for The 33, but she and her international cast are hampered by a screenplay that too often gets in the way of a powerful story. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 13, 2015
Unearths not only those thirty-three miners but also several thousand tons of clichés. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerFeb 1, 2016
The astonishing true life story of The 33 deserves a better movie than this. Trite above and below ground, it is not suitable for miners. Or anyone else really. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 13, 2015
The 33 makes shameless lunges at religious imagery via ghostly auras and this-is-my-flesh apportioning of daily rations. It feels tacky, and only late in the game does Riggen find the script’s most interesting idea, about unwanted celebrity. Miner story, major fail. Read full review
40
VarietyScott TobiasOct 29, 2015
In broad strokes, the events that unfold are undeniably riveting.... The trouble is, The 33 only knows broad strokes. Lacking any specific angle on the ordeal, the filmmakers give the once-over-lightly treatment to every aspect of it, which ensures that none of them will be properly served. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianNov 10, 2015
The film doles out a shock or hits a (usually hollow) emotional note every few minutes with mechanical precision. Read full review
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