The Perfect Candidate
Music Box Films | Release Date: May 14, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageOrla SmithMay 13, 2021
What might not be apparent yet from my description of this explicitly political, nuanced, and angry film is that The Perfect Candidate is also a lot of fun. This is that rare, miraculous thing: a political crowdpleaser that doesn’t sand off its edges in an effort to be palatable. Read full review
88
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeSep 2, 2019
The Perfect Candidate feels like a film that both represents a new era for women in the Muslim world and also one that will help push that movement forward. Read full review
80
Little White LiesElla KempNov 30, 2021
Every woman’s uphill battle will look different, and here is one fleshed out admirably. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 31, 2020
The Perfect Candidate is the sort of film I can imagine getting a remake in contemporary America or Britain, with not as many changes as we might assume. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMar 31, 2020
Like Maryam’s approach to local politics, the film is well-meaning but occasionally naive. Read full review
80
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 2, 2019
The Perfect Candidate is a simple story, told without frills or even much in the way of nuance. But it’s socked through with great power, conviction and an underlying hope for a better world. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 10, 2021
Al Zahrani, making her screen debut, holds our interest by not holding her temper. Maryam is young enough to be impatient, traditional enough to play by the rules and realistic enough to see the futility of it all. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 18, 2021
As with Wadjda, Mansour gives audiences a candid, often wryly amusing glimpse of life inside the Saudi kingdom, which is so often cloaked in opacity and menace. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubAllison ShoemakerMay 11, 2021
There’s a dramatic neatness here more indicative of a parable or fairy tale than an intimate family drama. Add in a swelling, sports-movie score and The Perfect Candidate would sit comfortably on the shelf along other feel-good underdog stories. (Think Rudy, but with municipal elections and lots of oud.) Yet Al-Mansour and her able cast supply a richer texture than such a description might suggest. Read full review
75
The PlaylistChristina NewlandSep 2, 2019
It may be too gentle to leave a deep impression, but its sweetness is also well-earned and nice to savor. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 13, 2021
The movie’s lived-in acting and unhurried pace make it a better-than-palatable viewing experience. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneJessica KiangMay 12, 2021
The Perfect Candidate doesn’t burn the veil, but it does lift it briefly, allowing us a glimpse of Saudi womanhood that is idiosyncratic and individual — in short, as we very rarely see it. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 12, 2021
Less a hand-wringing dispatch from a repressive land than a judiciously glossy nudge toward a better world, The Perfect Candidate isn’t complicated, yet earns its mixed/hopeful conclusion. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 2, 2019
What The Perfect Candidate lacks in sophistication it makes up for in intuition, entwining the longtime taboos of music (especially the female voice) and women's active participation in political life in a positive storyline. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 2, 2019
The Perfect Candidate can feel sedate and disjointed as a broad portrait of empowerment, but this is nothing if not a movie of its time, and it sings — sometimes literally — whenever it hones in on the unique struggle through which Saudi Arabian women might seize upon this historic moment. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyMay 14, 2021
It’s an earnest, defiantly women-centric film that maintains a generally positive attitude about the future, albeit also one that feels a little less observational, a little more heavy-handed and prescriptive than the fiercely authentic Wadjda. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassMay 11, 2021
The film’s aesthetic, understandably fused with its protagonist’s dogged can-do attitude, is both the source and limitation of its power. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeApr 2, 2020
Beefed up with one too many musical numbers from the protagonist’s dad, The Perfect Candidate feels a bit slight on plot and character. But Zahrani’s performance and the urgency of the issues elevate it from the ordinary. A great last shot compensates for all deficiencies. Read full review
60
Screen DailyJonathan RomneySep 2, 2019
The film never entirely transcends its nature as a polemical pamphlet - and despite strong presence in those scenes where Maryam speaks truth to power, Alzahrani doesn’t quite have the charisma to make her substantially more than a representative figure. Read full review
50
VarietyJay WeissbergSep 2, 2019
At every step, Al Mansour feeds the audience exactly what she thinks will make them feel good about positive change in Saudi Arabia, setting up conflict and resolution with all the nuance of a by-the-numbers construction kit. Read full review
More From This Movie

71 Critic Reviews

5.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL