The Fencer
California Film Institute, The | Release Date: July 21, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaAug 31, 2017
Despite the film's predictable nature, it's hard not to become engaged. The performances are excellent and Härö directs with a clean hand, pushing toward a suspenseful, stirring climax that hinges on the team's success as well as Endel's freedom. Read full review
80
Total FilmPhilip KempNov 2, 2016
Acutely acted, The Fencer strikes home. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDavid ClackSep 26, 2016
Props should go to director Klaus Härö for making such a predictable premise feel fresh and his cast of characters – from a suspicious, disapproving headmaster, to the foil-swinging kids – feel engaging. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonAug 24, 2017
The Fencer, directed by Klaus Haro, is basically a “Hoosiers” remake — a true story set in a 1950s small town, in which a coach with a mysterious past arrives to shape a rag-tag bunch of kids into tournament contenders (there’s even a halfhearted romance that seems thrown in at the last minute in both films) — but that’s OK. It’s a winner here, too. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAug 17, 2017
Director Klaus Härö, working from a script by Anna Heinämaa, deftly captures the grayish gloom and day-to-day paranoia of postwar Soviet life, while infusing this absorbing tale with affecting emotion. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 10, 2015
This well-acted, smoothly crafted drama tells a story of cross-generational bonding in the face of historical oppression, in touching if unsurprising fashion. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinJul 19, 2017
The set-up is a bit schmaltzy and the only guesswork is how bitter the bittersweet ending will be, but Haro coaxes strong performances from the cast. Read full review
60
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganDec 21, 2015
The Fencer plays an entirely predictable match right down to its final bout, but the period Soviet Block setting gives the game an interesting hook, and DoP Thomo Hutri’s muted location shots prove atmospheric. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJul 21, 2017
None of this is particularly difficult to watch; the cinematic competence, the sincerity with which the clichés get served up, and so on, make a relatively smooth viewing experience. But they also render what would have been an at times harrowing real-life story into something safe and bland. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJul 20, 2017
The director, Klaus Haro, films the proceedings involvingly enough.... But the movie is almost relentlessly predictable and formulaic — a story of one man’s refusal to conform that dutifully hits all its marks. Read full review
50
Village VoiceAbbey BenderJul 20, 2017
The Fencer is ultimately too staid: It’s at its best when Nelis shows the art of fencing to his students and the elegant yet dangerous swords are wielded. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonDec 10, 2015
[A] blankly heroic, clunkingly predictable portrait. Read full review
37
Washington PostMaia SilberAug 10, 2017
Finnish Director Klaus Haro has a sharp eye, and his shots deftly juxtapose the delicate beauty of the Estonian lowlands with the harsh reality of life under Soviet rule. But the script, written by Anna Heinamaa, gives him little more than an aesthetic landscape to work with. Read full review
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