Z for Zachariah
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: August 28, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 27, 2015
Maintaining a strict formal allegiance to reserve and restraint, [Mr. Zobel] shapes a dreamily elegant emotional ballet from glances and gestures and subtle shifts in power. Read full review
91
HitfixDrew McWeenyJan 31, 2015
Z For Zachariah may not be a faithful adaptation of a well-liked book, but as a film, it is a lovely, powerful piece of work. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaAug 27, 2015
Director Craig Zobel (he made the creepily effective “Compliance”) lets the story unfold in wonderfully hushed fashion. Read full review
90
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekAug 25, 2015
The film works on its own terms, capturing, at least, the mournful vibe of O'Brien's book. What's more, Zobel's revision opens up plenty of space for the three actors who inhabit this circumscribed little world, all of whom are terrific. Read full review
80
SlateAisha HarrisSep 3, 2015
Zobel and Modi have crafted a thoughtful narrative about the experience of navigating and attempting to accommodate others' personalities. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 28, 2015
Terrific and gripping. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAug 27, 2015
Z for Zachariah asks us to suspend a good deal of disbelief. Ann is absurdly beautiful, and Ms. Robbie emerges as a full-fledged star, even though her performance is precise and understated. Read full review
80
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 27, 2015
Z for Zachariah feels like a genuine rarity: an American movie that doesn’t tell you what to think or how to feel when the credits start rolling. Contemplating our doom doesn’t seem like a bad idea when it’s done this skillfully. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonJul 31, 2015
Z For Zachariah’s beauty is its simplicity, Zobel telling the story with a minimum of fuss and resisting easy explanations for his characters’ actions. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Julia CooperSep 3, 2015
Like its namesake prophet, Zobel’s film is about exile and return, but it’s also more simply about who we lust after. This simplicity is the film’s virtue rather than its sin, and a layered picture of right and wrong, faith and reason, emerges as the story unfolds. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 27, 2015
The acting is strong, with Robbie and Ejiofor turning in performances that feel powerfully authentic, even in moments of ethical confusion. Maybe especially in moments of ethical confusion. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelAug 27, 2015
Like "Compliance," Z for Zachariah shows how terrifying and redeeming interpersonal relationships can be. We crave human contact, yet it can still destroy us, even at the end of the world. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanAug 27, 2015
Z for Zachariah has things to say about the tugs-of-war between science and spirituality, thought and action, men and women. It's just not exactly sure what they are. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 27, 2015
The three actors work wonders. And Zobel, as he did in 2012's mindbending "Compliance," nails every nuance of intonation and posture. Read full review
75
IndieWireIbad ShahJan 31, 2015
Even as the story’s increased tension weakens its subtleties, Zobel's sensitive handling of the emotional tone throughout grounds the film with an overarching realism despite the far-fetched setting. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 31, 2015
Its craft can be impressive: Zobel’s film possesses a searing, slow burn tone that’s beautifully controlled. The movie is admirably patient and gives breathing room and space for these relationships to bloom believably and organically. But the build to a climax is far too slow and with little emotional payoff. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzAug 28, 2015
Worse, Z for Zachariah is ultimately too dramatically slight and brief for its ambitions, despite its sometimes labored myth-making script and visuals. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoAug 27, 2015
Far from contrived, the triangle that “Zachariah” sketches among the last three folks on earth is all too human. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 28, 2015
The question of winning Ann sexually takes on an ugly character, and the film dumbs down fast. This is how the world ends: not with a bang but a wimp. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 31, 2015
The descent into a tepid thriller of sexual jealousy slowly negates the abstract, almost metaphorical quality of this film — and it ultimately undoes the spell cast by that mesmerizing first half. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 31, 2015
Craig Zobel effectively sets all its surface parts in motion but, crucially, doesn’t sufficiently develop that turbulent undercurrents of tension and intrigue that are called for in the hothouse circumstances. Read full review
60
VarietyScott FoundasJan 31, 2015
Z for Zachariah is a handsome-looking film (shot in widescreen, on remote New Zealand locations, by veteran David Gordon Green d.p. Tim Orr) and it doesn’t lack for provocative ideas, though it never digs quite deep enough into any of them. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanAug 27, 2015
The lack of drama and heat keeps Z for Zachariah joyless without much despair. It’s the end of the world as we know it, and you’ll feel bored. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAug 26, 2015
Fans of Robert C. O’Brien’s 1974 novel will likely be appalled. Those unfamiliar with the cult classic, on the other hand, are more likely to scratch their heads in bewilderment, wondering how a yarn with such potential is so suddenly derailed. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 1, 2015
New Zealand and West Virginia provide the striking settings, and you can almost see what the cast saw in this as promising and meaty. But the script skips past deeper debates and doesn’t deliver much in the line of fireworks for the love triangle. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenAug 27, 2015
What should be a sexually and emotionally charged atmosphere instead ends up feeling like an intellectual exercise, with the actors attempting mightily to simulate chemistry that simply doesn't exist. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickAug 26, 2015
Even an engaging performance by Margot Robbie as the proverbial last woman on Earth isn’t enough to save Z for Zachariah from becoming yet another ploddingly pretentious Sundance dud. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezAug 23, 2015
The film squanders the promise of its scrutiny into how people recalibrate their sense of morality in times of crisis. Read full review
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