The Flat
IFC Films | Release Date: October 12, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleLeba HertzNov 1, 2012
The movie feels more like a thriller and a mystery than a documentary. Perhaps someday, someone will be inspired to dramatize this astonishing story. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 28, 2012
I will salute the deftness and intelligence with which Goldfinger observes the reactions of the living to the revelations of the dead. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 18, 2012
A film that begins as a family quest but evolves into a gripping study of know-don't-tell reticence and the umbilical tie of a lost homeland. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternOct 18, 2012
What makes The Flat mesmerizing is its wealth of historical detail. What makes it universal is what it says about families everywhere - that children, being children, don't want to know what their parents are up to, and that grown-ups, being human, don't want to credit troubling facts that conflict with what they need to believe. Read full review
90
Village VoiceChuck WilsonOct 10, 2012
In families, this fascinating film suggests, acknowledging or denying the darker truths of one's legacy is a choice that must be made again and again, each and every day. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 2, 2012
A quietly brilliant study in cognitive dissonance, The Flat is a documentary look at Holocaust denial, but not the kind you might think. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOct 31, 2012
Is something being hidden? No. It's more that something doesn't want to be known. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 26, 2012
Goldfinger happened upon a story far larger than he must have anticipated. The Flat is about the persistence of denial, and of hope. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 25, 2012
No definitive answers are possible to the questions The Flat raises, which makes them all the more provocative. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOct 18, 2012
Ultimately, this is not a film about one specific event but about human nature - most notably, the instincts toward denial and delusion, acceptance and forgiveness. From start to finish, revelations abound. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisNov 29, 2012
There's something touching about the way Goldfinger obeys his moral compass. He doesn't seem at all happy with that luxury. It's a burden by a more extravagant name. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsDec 7, 2012
The Holocaust must never be forgotten, but like many well-intentioned documentaries, The Flat derives more power from the implicit strength of the subject than from the explicit choices of the director. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierOct 15, 2012
Accusation is the rhetoric of outrage, and Arnon Goldfinger can't bring himself to experience even conservative anger, regardless of its appropriateness. Read full review
40
Time OutAndrew SchenkerOct 16, 2012
The Flat details his efforts to understand this unusual situation, and although the film suggests that his relatives may have maintained this odd friendship as a denial of their homeland's betrayals, there's only so deep Goldfinger can dig. Read full review
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