When Lambs Become Lions
Oscilloscope | Release Date: November 22, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The PlaylistChris BarsantiNov 21, 2019
Adding to the fraught complexities of economic insecurity and environmental devastation, When Lambs Become Lions wraps its story in a sweep of broodingly gorgeous imagery. Read full review
90
Film ThreatAndrew EmersonJan 23, 2020
What stands out about When Lambs Become Lions is its remarkable intimacy. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmNov 22, 2019
Filmed over the course of three years and clocking in just over 70 minutes (minus credits), When Lambs Become Lions is a triumph of shrewdly economical storytelling on the part of Kasbe and his co-editors Frederick Shanahan and Caitlyn Greene. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansFeb 26, 2020
Kasbe makes the most of his extraordinary access by presenting the film vérité style, preferring to immerse the audience in his characters’ lives to better make the case for each of their choices. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGlenn KennyDec 5, 2019
It’s a striking, human portrait of men in trouble, looking for escape and possibly redemption. Read full review
80
Screen DailyNikki BaughanNov 21, 2019
Kasbe has imbued When Lambs Become Lions with the feel of a thriller rather than a polemic. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeNov 21, 2019
When Lambs Become Lions thoughtfully and provocatively articulates a collision of social and environmental crises in which man is both victor and victim: a circle of life that stalls us all. Read full review
75
Washington PostMark LiebermanDec 9, 2019
The title of When Lambs Become Lions could refer to any of its subjects: One way or another, everyone involved is endangered and fighting for survival. Read full review
75
Slant MagazinePat BrownNov 26, 2019
Think Michael Mann’s Heat but in East Africa and with real-world stakes. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 21, 2019
That Kasbe, who also shot and co-edited, so firmly embedded himself in this distant, hardscrabble world results in a wealth of candid, you-are-there moments that highlight the complex intersection between the fraught state of wildlife preservation and the desperate scramble for human survival. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckNov 21, 2019
Gorgeously photographed and edited, the film has the look and pacing of a thriller, albeit one with near-Shakespearean dramatic dimensions. Read full review
68
TheWrapMichael NordineNov 22, 2019
It’s unlikely that any documentary could make us feel half as bad for the poachers as we do for their prey, which might not even be Kasbe’s aim. He succeeds in bringing shades of grey to a situation usually thought of in black-and-white terms — not enough to change many minds, perhaps, but at least enough to open some. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 18, 2019
A solid, engrossing docudrama — staged and acted — not, as its director claims, a documentary. That still doesn’t rob the film of its simple power, the suspense of wondering just who will turn on whom, and if elephants will be killed in the bargain. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 26, 2020
I’m not sure that I was completely on board with this film, which appears to have smoothly carpentered its narrative in the edit. Is it almost too good to be true? Read full review
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