To Dust
Good Deed Entertainment | Release Date: February 8, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Original-CinJim SlotekMar 13, 2019
An odd, sweet, dryly funny, existential and slightly blasphemous buddy-movie, in which an Orthodox cantor, grieving his wife’s death, seeks the help of a pot-smoking college professor to understand what becomes of a corpse. Read full review
82
TheWrapYolanda MachadoFeb 6, 2019
A unique take on one of the most painful and important parts of being human, the film is original and honest. Even knowing very little about the traditions of Hasidic Judaism, it was easy to relate to the very human element of finding a connection that ultimately leads to healing. Read full review
80
Film ThreatLorry KiktaMar 29, 2019
This is a very inventive, original story, in a cinematic landscape that sometimes seems bereft of such things. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisFeb 27, 2019
The real delight here, however, is Broderick’s mensch, a middle-aged man painfully aware that he’s become a loser. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 14, 2019
Directed and co-written by Shawn Snyder, To Dust is a dark but not bleak comedy, an oddly effective love story and also a classic buddy movie, albeit presented within a framework I don’t we’ve ever seen before in the genre. It’s also lovely and offbeat and kind of wonderful. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMark DujsikFeb 8, 2019
Religion can provide some solace, but it can also complicate matters. Science can explain the natural processes, but even then, it cannot account for every detail in every situation. To Dust is about those contradictions and, in the end, about the ultimate one: that, to some questions, the only logical and spiritual answer is that there isn't one — except whatever we make of it. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 3, 2019
Snyder and co-writer Jason Begue paint a delightful alternative portrait of Hasidism and its practioners, going beyond the rituals and beyond respectful mockery, showing us foul-mouthed kids and an insular world clumsily at odds with the culture they’ve settled in. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicSamantha IncorvaiaFeb 21, 2019
Broderick and Röhrig's chemistry is so unusual that it works well in this strong feature film directing debut for Shawn Snyder. And that goes for the whole movie. It's so odd that viewers need to see it. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleFeb 14, 2019
The movie could use a little more energy — this is Paul Mazursky territory, after all, not Andrei Tarkovsky — but in its sick-but-sweet attempt to reclaim grief from the trappings of tradition, To Dust is its own well-measured godsend. Read full review
70
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyFeb 8, 2019
If tenderness is deployed to ease Shmuel’s grieving, those are not the scenes which give To Dust its special pungency, or what make you laugh. This film is at its best when it goes for the gut. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFeb 5, 2019
With matter-of-fact Jewish wit, it accepts these beliefs as the story's ground rules, understanding that Shmuel won't make peace with his wife's death until he finds some way of reconciling his ideas with physical realities. If only all conflicts between religion and observable facts came to ends as satisfying as this film does. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerMar 14, 2019
To Dust’s humour is of the one-trick kind – an odd couple on an odd mission – but there is soul and small pleasures to its fly-by 92 minutes. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 12, 2019
There’s something in the relationship between these two partnerless men — their yearning for connection — that feels, beneath the jokes, very real and very recognizable. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFeb 8, 2019
The mournful comedy To Dust has a sicko premise, but scrupulously sicko. Read full review
60
The New York TimesWesley MorrisFeb 7, 2019
You can see what this movie is after, something cockeyed but sincere, something in the neighborhood of Paul Mazursky, Elaine May or Alexander Payne. But the writing and filmmaking (Snyder directed) just aren’t quick enough. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMar 7, 2019
To Dust has several things to recommend it. It’s decidedly different, and that is no small accomplishment in this day and age. Snyder’s direction has real assurance, though not enough to overcome the films self-conscious — maybe self-congratulatory — weirdness. Read full review
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