The Circle
WinStar Cinema | Release Date: April 13, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Mr. ShowbizMichael Atkinson
Naturalistic, gritty, and unrelenting.
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Quiet, rageful indictment of a two-tiered Islamic society.
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Suspenseful and ingeniously directed. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Circles the heart of noisy, modern Tehran with an informal, documentary-like freedom that is thrilling in its naturalism. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Restrained yet powerful, devastating in its emotional effects. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute
A triumph of invisible craftsmanship that embraces so much specific detail that none of the women ever comes across as an emblem or an abstraction. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A stunning drama about the desperate state of women in Iran.
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The political implications of the film are manifest, as is the quiet courage of making it. Read full review
90
VarietyDeborah Young
Both fascinates and horrifies with its bold assertions about what it means to be a woman under a cruel, institutionalized patriarchy. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A memorable and devastating indictment of the oppression facing many women in Iran. Read full review
90
Film.comPeter Brunette
The fact that this film, so sensitive to woman's plight, was made by a man is perhaps cause for a little hope. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Panahi's simplicity accentuates the movie's power: its sense of life caught unobserved. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Such moral outrage, apart from the artistry in which it is embedded, tells us that the forces of change are stirring in Iran.
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The Circle is all the more depressing when we consider that Iran is relatively liberal compared to, say, Afghanistan under the Taliban. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
A mix of the poetic and the polemic, the film is oddly abstract and untethered. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Jean Oppenheimer
An extraordinary film from a born filmmaker. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This tightly structured, often exciting film is among the boldest in a series of increasingly explicit movies. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The picture is so dramatically textured that you feel something's happening every minute. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Panahi is a maestro of anxiety. Whatever its political significance, this is a dark, sustained, and wrenching film. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Panahi creates a raw, riveting film. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
In its brisk way, it's a devastating piece of work, and very brave too. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There's no denying it's a tragic film from start to finish, but equally undeniable is the endless stoicism displayed by the women, and Panahi's crisp, meandering direction. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
How dangerous it is to be a woman in Iran, especially one going against the wishes of her menfolk, is brought home time after time in these related vignettes. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
A terrific social drama, the work of an artist, not a pleader. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
It's a startling, speedy, gracefully executed indictment. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A Kafkaesque series of interwoven stories that depict the hopeless lives half the populace there (Iran) must lead. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
In The Circle, which is banned in Iran, the enforced society of women is, in effect, a community of adults treated as children. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
This film is fighting the good fight, albeit in a rather heavy-handed way.
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