The Automat
A Slice of Pie Productions | Release Date: February 18, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverRex ReedFeb 23, 2022
The Automat was owned by the people, and it’s the people who loved it, remember it with passion, and still shed a tear when you mention it now. Read full review
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 25, 2022
The Automat taps into so many resonant aspects of what America used to be that to watch it is to be drawn into an enchanting and wistfully profound time-tripping reverie. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMar 25, 2022
Even if this documentary directed by Lisa Hurwitz had nothing else to recommend it, it would be worthwhile as an excellent source of Mel Brooks. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinFeb 25, 2022
[A] lovely, deeply nostalgic tribute. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 23, 2022
Ms. Hurwitz’s film, which was written by Michael Levine, is modest in scale yet far-ranging. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 23, 2022
The principal story that The Automat tells is that of a commercial vision meshing with an aesthetic one, the transformation of cheap dining into a sort of theatrical experience, complete with a stage setting of authentic craft and luxury, in which the banal purchase of food becomes a tour de force of industrial ingenuity. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekFeb 23, 2022
Even if you’ve never had the pleasure of eating in an Automat, Hurwitz brings the experience to life. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberFeb 23, 2022
This is no more than a minor piece of social history, but it wins us over with humor and a pointed touch of melancholy. Read full review
80
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 23, 2022
In its own rueful way, The Automat functions as a kind of restorative to those feelings of loss. It’s a celebration of what for so many people was among the happiest of times. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMay 12, 2022
Hurwitz takes a terrific subject and treats it with undisguised, and justified, affection. Read full review
75
Original-CinKaren GordonApr 25, 2022
Given its century-plus life span, the life and times of Horn and Hardart’s Automat restaurants, is a lot of story. And Hurowitz does it thoroughly in 78 minutes, in a wonderfully evocative way. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 6, 2022
True to the egalitarian allure of the restaurant chain itself, Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary The Automat is both a touching farewell and a fond hello-again for those old enough to remember the salisbury steak, creamed spinach and peach pie behind those little windows of nickel-fed discovery. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 5, 2022
In The Automat, Hurwitz and writer Michael Levine trace the rise and fall of Horn & Hardart, illuminating not just a surprisingly compelling corporate history, but a facet of American culture that feels both brimmingly optimistic and thoroughly extinct. Read full review
60
The New York TimesWesley MorrisFeb 23, 2022
If anything, The Automat seeks to burnish the mystique — it won’t be hijacked by social politics even if the company’s stance in such matters appeared to be the right one. The movie opts for a starry, top-down vantage. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneMay 11, 2022
The Automat is rather like a nickel slice of pie or bowl of mac & cheese you’d get from one of their restaurants. It’s not fancy, but it’s good. Read full review
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