58
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAdd one more extraordinary survival tale to the canon of Holocaust documentaries: No Place on Earth.
- 75McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreA well-crafted documentary variation on "Defiance," Ukrainian Jews saving themselves by going underground -- literally.
- 75New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeThe film is built from moving, frank interviews with survivors from two families who hid, speaking over and around extensive re-enactments. Passages from the memoir of one family matriarch, Esther Stermer, in many ways the heroine of the tale, also are used as narration.
- 65NPRMark JenkinsNPRMark JenkinsAlthough the story is told with narration rather than dialogue, Tobias relies too much on reconstruction. A more inventive melding of documentary and docudrama would have benefited the film, whose most moving scenes all involve real members of the families. A bit more historical and geographic context would also be useful.
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsThe first-person remembrances hit you where you live, while everything else (including a bland musical score by John Piscitello) often creates the opposite of the intended effect: It keeps you at arm's length from an extraordinary story.
- 60The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe bare facts of the feat seize the imagination, even if Ms. Tobias’s competent documentary doesn’t quite rise to the challenge.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineA remarkable story made almost unremarkable in the hands of lazy filmmaking.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThis story is both uplifting and awe-inspiring. It deserves to be told better.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe stats relayed at the movie's end...almost have more impact than the narrative.