The Final Year
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: January 19, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Seattle TimesJohn HartlJan 18, 2018
In the end, The Final Year can offer only the perspective of time and history as a consolation. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenJan 20, 2018
It’s brimming with fascinating insights into the skill, conviction and sheer slog that went into tackling several rogue states, climate change and the odd dead cockroach on the West Wing floor without losing optimism, sanity or custody of the kids. Read full review
80
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanNov 9, 2017
Barker’s fly-on-the-wall approach eschews showy grandstanding and divisive biases. So there’s a better-than-usual chance that viewers on both sides of the aisle will find themselves moved. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckNov 9, 2017
It’s the little moments that provide the most fascination. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGary Goldstein
The election’s startling results give the movie more resonance and emotional heft than it might have otherwise. A brief closing interview with Obama provides some stirring — and haunting — grace notes. Read full review
75
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Jan 20, 2018
[Barker's] film only tries to let us understand the constant and harsh pressures that people in such high positions of power go through daily, and that it does well enough. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJan 19, 2018
As an evocation of on-the-ground political reality, The Final Year is a a solid and often entertaining work in much the same wheelhouse as the durable political documentary "The War Room." Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJosh ModellJan 19, 2018
The documentary follows — and frequently lionizes — three Obama officials throughout 2016, and frequently feels like it was intended as a well-deserved victory lap. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJan 18, 2018
The film will be of particular interest to foreign-policy wonks, but it also plays well as a drama about the limited ability of any president to have a lasting impact. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Simon HouptJan 18, 2018
A wistfulness hangs over the proceedings: Viewers can't help but realize that, just after the final scene, which takes place on the early morning of Donald Trump's inauguration, the new president's administration began to feverishly reverse all the delicate, passionate work we had just observed. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 18, 2018
What chills most about The Final Year is how unprepared Team Obama was for the victory of Trump and the ease with which many of its hard-won policies could be unraveled. Was it blindness, hubris or a combination of both? Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 17, 2018
The film’s chief flaw is that it’s in the room but never really in the room — the key figures talk about passionate interoffice policy arguments, but we never actually see them. Still, The Final Year takes in setbacks, breakthroughs, gaffes, and a steady drumbeat of talking-head criticism from televised outsiders, heard on the film’s soundtrack but not seen. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 17, 2018
It is, for what it’s worth, a good documentary, though I imagine its true worth and true nature can only be revealed in time. At the starting gate of 2018, we can have no idea how this film will be perceived in 10 years, and maybe we don’t want to know. Then again, maybe we do. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 11, 2018
Everybody comes off as smart, articulate, on-task, hard-working and not prone to panic. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 25, 2018
Regardless of politics, it’s fascinating to see how the White House works. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 19, 2018
The movie is barely an hour and a half but feels dense, and exhausting, as Barker skips among three protagonists who are up against a ticking clock. Read full review
70
VoxAlissa Wilkinson
The greatest thing about The Final Year, and the part that needs repeating over and over in our abrasive, attention-seeking political age, is that no matter what your method for bettering the world is, the real work is usually done quietly, in ways that defy pomp and fanfare. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJan 25, 2018
The deepest frustration is that Barker had seemingly unrestricted access to one of the most revolutionary and skilled White House offices of the postwar era, yet the end result is like condensing an entire season of "The West Wing" and cutting out all the best monologues. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonJan 16, 2018
The Final Year may feel like a fly-on-the-wall production, but there’s an element of careful curation in the personalities and events shown that undercuts some of their earnestness. Read full review
67
The PlaylistWill AshtonNov 9, 2017
Through intimate access, personalized interviews and mostly sympathetic portrayals of select people inside the White House, Barker isn’t trying to be objective. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckJan 18, 2018
Despite being near the action, we don’t feel particularly close to it. Still, we get to see the wheels turning, and it’s hard not to get wrapped up in some of the backstage moments. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 22, 2018
The Final Year is stirring and saddening, but too well behaved by half; I wanted it to be a little less Steven Pinker and a little more Dwayne Johnson. I wanted the huge fight. Read full review
60
SlateJoshua KeatingJan 20, 2018
After a year of Trump, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic for a president seen backstage working on his Greek pronunciation. Read full review
60
CineVueChristopher MachellJan 18, 2018
As moving and timely as The Final Year is, it doesn’t quite hit these marks. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJan 18, 2018
The filmmakers offer us glimpses of the diplomatic life but too little telling detail. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJan 18, 2018
The shadow of subsequent events looms oppressively large, but Greg Barker’s film still speaks eloquently for diplomacy and selfless public service. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJan 18, 2018
In the final half-hour, things start picking up, not just because of the impending surprise victory of Donald J. Trump and the way these players react to it. Read full review
60
EmpireAndrew LowryJan 16, 2018
The tension between the intended tribute and the lack of success on-screen makes for a muted viewing experience, but as a document of what were likely the waning days of American empire, and the curious priorities its agents chose during them, this is fascinating. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 15, 2018
The fly-on-the-wall film is fascinating at times, but less than essential. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 15, 2018
For liberals, The Final Year might become a kind of metaphorical marriage video that’s watched by divorcees who yearn of that initial hint of paradise. Read full review
50
VarietyScott TobiasNov 9, 2017
The Final Year clings to a precooked thesis about the Obama Doctrine that misses the behind-the-scenes drama and candor of superior political documentaries like “The War Room” or “Weiner.” Read full review
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