The Workers Cup
Passion River Films | Release Date: June 8, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Screen DailySarah WardMay 25, 2018
Aping sporting conventions, The Workers Cup relates a riveting underdog tale about a quest for glory, while simultaneously probing the reality faced by the poorest people in the world’s wealthiest country. Read full review
83
The Film StageJohn FinkMay 25, 2018
The Workers Cup is a bittersweet portrait of the labor that built the glimmering towers, stadiums, and luxury malls: spaces these men are not permitted to be seen in public areas of. Read full review
80
Film ThreatLorry KiktaSep 27, 2018
Adam Sobel’s 2017 documentary, The Workers Cup is a maddening heart-wrenching inside look into a group of construction workers in Qatar, building facilities in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Read full review
80
The GuardianCharlie PhillipsMay 25, 2018
Though there are moments of real joy and liberation during the games, everything outside of the matches is cloaked in a mood of lost dreams and stunted futures. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNick AllenJun 8, 2018
A documentary with a defeated spirit, but with fleeting glimmers about why the oppressed keep playing. Read full review
75
The PlaylistAndrew CrumpMay 25, 2018
More than a documentary, the film is an exposé on the world of global capitalism’s callousness that handily demonstrates their inhumanity. Read full review
70
The New York TimesKen JaworowskiJun 7, 2018
While it would have been easy for Mr. Sobel to unleash an angrier screed against the inequalities shown, some well-placed images tell us all we need to know about the haves and have-nots here. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBilge EbiriJun 7, 2018
Sobel lets these conflicting feelings hang in the air, offering no pat conclusions, or convenient corporate bogeymen. By refusing to resolve or reconcile these contradictions, he ensures that we’ll keep thinking about them. Read full review
70
VarietyGeoff BerkshireMay 25, 2018
What emerges is a nuanced, if somewhat undernourished, portrait of the poorest inhabitants of the richest country in the world. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 7, 2018
Not an exposé, and hardly a case of sports-as-uplift, The Workers Cup feels like a toe dip when the topic calls for at least a deep wade. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijMay 25, 2018
Sobel’s inexperience with the feature-length format and the requirements of specific genres shows, with Workers Cup constantly struggling to reconcile the horrible fate of what are essentially modern-day slaves with the aspirational side and dreams of victory and beyond that are the end game of any underdog sports story. Read full review
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