The Iron Ministry
Icarus Films | Release Date: August 21, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 20, 2015
The Iron Ministry is neither boring nor confining, which is just to say that it’s not a long trip through a faraway country. It’s a work of art — vivid and mysterious and full of life. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlAug 18, 2015
It's always political when regular people speak plainly about their circumstances — here, it's also moving, revelatory, and often funny, offering plenty to mull over during the long shots of train workers trundling their food carts. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnAug 20, 2015
The Iron Ministry turns the chaos of modern China into dense, frantic poetry. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid EhrlichAug 28, 2015
Confining its view to the narrow corridors of China’s train system—soon to be the largest of its kind in the world—The Iron Ministry vividly speaks to the country’s impossible vastness by focusing on its tiniest and most transient details, cobbling them together into a captivating mosaic of life in motion. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungAug 20, 2015
A pungently immersive evocation of traveling on Chinese trains. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayAug 17, 2015
Though J.P. Sniadecki doesn't elucidate any broad structural motive, his film gradually adopts an engrossing rhythm among its clatter of steel and ambient chatter. Read full review
70
VarietyJay WeissbergAug 20, 2015
While cerebral in intent and planning, the pic doesn’t feel overly straitjacketed by theory and offers unexpected moments of amusement. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiAug 20, 2015
Filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki withholds judgment and resists editorializing, but the result is frustratingly nebulous and devoid of context. Read full review
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