Where Is Kyra?
Paladin | Release Date: April 6, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangApr 12, 2018
If Young's work here is another master class in painterly under-lighting, then Pfeiffer's brilliantly self-effacing performance feels like something sculptural by comparison. Remarkably, she doesn't compete with the movie's rigorous visual scheme; she completes it. Her powers of expression, far from being obscured by all this darkness, are instead enriched and heightened by it. Read full review
90
Screen DailyTim GriersonFeb 21, 2018
A shattering portrait of a luckless woman unable to pull out of the tailspin that is her life, Where Is Kyra? is a powerfully moody character study anchored by a remarkable performance from Michelle Pfeiffer. Read full review
88
Rolling StoneDavid FearApr 20, 2018
Pfeiffer gives an incredible performance as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireApr 6, 2018
Here, Pfeiffer’s Kyra is our conduit to a world of anxiety and destitution within a seemingly exciting, glamorous city. And she’s absolutely heartbreaking with just the slightest register of sadness in a gesture or facial expression. Read full review
83
The Film StageDan MeccaFeb 21, 2018
Starring an against-type and utterly fascinating Michelle Pfeiffer as the titular Kyra, the film narrows in on the tragedy of getting old in America. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 6, 2018
In Where Is Kyra?, Michelle Pfeiffer is stunning as a desperate, near-destitute woman whose life is shrouded in darkness. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeFeb 21, 2018
The emotional range of Pfeiffer’s riveting performance isn’t a broad one, though this frequently nonverbal film is entirely reliant on her cutting powers of expression as she progresses from harrowed to exhausted and back, at risk of disappearing into herself entirely. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 21, 2018
Pfeiffer is nothing short of heartbreaking in a part that requires her to be completely unvarnished. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 25, 2018
Where is Kyra? is a small story — there’s much about its main character that we’ll never know — and a terribly sad one. But it’s a remarkable showcase for Pfeiffer, who’ll break your heart in every scene. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenApr 4, 2018
Terror gradually leaks into the narrative, transforming Where Is Kyra? into a haunting non-traditional thriller. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 3, 2018
Unlike Oren Moverman’s superficially similar "Time Out Of Mind," in which Richard Gere plays a homeless man, Where Is Kyra? doesn’t constantly feel like what it necessarily is: the work of wealthy people simulating poverty. In part, that’s thanks to Pfeiffer’s vanity-free, internalized performance, which could hardly be more different from her deliciously abrasive turn in last year’s "Mother!" (It’s great to have her back.) Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghApr 12, 2018
Pfeiffer may be stripped of her luminosity, but she is vivid onscreen. Read full review
70
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanApr 5, 2018
That we watch the ticking moments of Where Is Kyra? with so much concern is a testament to the filmmakers and cast determined to elevate her unnoticed life. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGlenn KennyApr 5, 2018
As a statement about the economic insecurity inherent in American capitalism, Where Is Kyra? has grim power. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBilge EbiriFeb 21, 2018
The way Dosunmu shoots her, she feels somehow both fragile and unchanging: It wouldn’t take much to turn Kyra herself into a blur, to erase her from the screen completely; but the broader sorrow that she represents will never go away. Where is Kyra? She’s in the midst of disappearing, but she’s also everywhere. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijFeb 21, 2018
Is it possible for a viewer to be touched by a character’s predicament and despair when every element of their life is so strikingly arranged? Because Pfeiffer disappears into her role and plays it small, and because Dosunmu’s modus operandi privileges visuals and the unspoken over dialogue and facile melodrama, the film sort of gets away with it, if just barely. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 21, 2018
The movie casts an unmistakable spell out of Pfeiffer’s ability to imbue Kyra with a profound sense of sorrow. Read full review
50
Washington PostChristopher KompanekApr 11, 2018
At just over 1 ½ hours, the film feels painfully long, paralyzed by a numbing bleakness. That’s not only the result of the protagonist’s downward trajectory, but also of cinematographer Bradford Young’s long, plodding shots, which only call attention to the visually hollow landscape. Read full review
42
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodFeb 21, 2018
The problem with Dosunmu’s follow-up to the more compelling “Mother Of George” is that there is so little story — and what story there is moves at such a snail’s pace — that all you have to look at are Young’s impressive compositions and then you wait…and then wait some more. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 12, 2018
The movie’s stylistic idea gets in the way of its story, and the story is too slim to sustain a full-length feature. And as the political ideas become as self-conscious as the style, Where Is Kyra? starts to feel a little like poverty porn. Read full review
More From This Movie

72 Critic Reviews

6.8 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