84
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottShot in richly toned, wide-screen black and white, Aferim! looks like an elegant exercise in period playacting. But it casts a fierce, revisionist eye on the past, finding the cruelty and prejudice that lie beneath the pageantry.
- 91IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnAferim! amounts to a serious endeavor designed to explore many facets of its era through the lens of people trapped in it. Their crude dialogue, real as it may be, hints at comedic possibilities while offering a shrewd look at people defined by their circumstances.
- 91The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangThe current of informed anger, directed at those who stand by while injustice and bigotry flourish, is unmistakable and turns the whole film into a kind of clever folk fable-cum-protest song.
- 90VarietyJay WeissbergVarietyJay WeissbergWhile its tone is occasionally overly strident, Aferim! is an exceptional, deeply intelligent gaze into a key historical period, done with wit as well as anger.
- 90Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonQuite possibly the only film ever made focused on the centuries-long enslavement of the Romani in Eastern Europe, Aferim! plays like a sleight of hand, amusing us at a distance with vulgarisms and entrancing us with countryside while the bloody work of civilization grinds on out of the corner of our eye.
- 90Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenLos Angeles TimesSheri LindenAferim! conjures a world in flux. From the ironic "Bravo!" of its title to its Chekhovian final moment after an episode of terrible brutality, Jude's film connects that world, unforgettably, to our own.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonDo not be fooled by the playful, irreverent tone. Behind its attractive surface sheen of lusty humor and ravishing visuals, this Trojan Horse drama makes some spiky topical points about the lingering scars of slavery, feudalism, misogyny and racism.
- 75Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoThe film's black humor is inextricably tied to serious questions about moral relativism and personal responsibility.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe movie establishes a quality of history by filming in black and white and shooting from a distance, so as to emphasize the broad picture.
- 67The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloTo the extent that the film has an emotional journey, it’s the story of this man’s very, very slight moral awakening, which achieves nothing whatsoever and doesn’t necessarily look as if it’s going to stick.