63
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Portland OregonianMarc MohanPortland OregonianMarc MohanThe Summit does an amazing job of putting you on the mountain, making it one of the most terrifying horror films a climber or an acrophobe could ever see.
- 80Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearAs you watch these actors, you appreciate the endeavor the climbers went through all the more — and as triumph turns to tragedy, you feel the grief winding its way through your shaken nervous systems.
- 80The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe film over all is a pulse-pounding success.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe Summit tells a multifaceted story that deals with more than the expected peril and exhilaration of adventure tales. Here you'll find love, fear and forgiveness, personality conflicts and cultural differences, even mysteries that have stubbornly resisted solving.
- 75The A.V. ClubNick SchagerThe A.V. ClubNick SchagerThe proceedings somewhat sidestep the issues of risk and responsibility—including the raised, but never fully tackled, question of whether others should have gone back to try to save their fellow, trapped compatriots—that seem most in need of investigation.
- 67Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerI wish the film had probed more deeply into why anybody would face those odds. George Mallory’s “Because it’s there” has never quite cut it for me.
- 60Village VoiceChuck WilsonVillage VoiceChuck WilsonThe Summit is at its most powerful when the filmmakers simply tell the tale, which gradually develops the unsettling suspense of a horror movie, with K2 cast as the implacable killer.
- 60The DissolveAndrew LapinThe DissolveAndrew LapinThough Ryan and Monroe prove adept at the film’s most elemental factors, they don’t offer enough backstory or characterization.
- 60New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierInterviews with survivors fill us in on the personalities of the lost, but the background of K2, with archival footage from 1954, is equally gripping.
- 40Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaArizona RepublicRandy CordovaNick Ryan’s documentary looks at the disaster by using interviews, actual footage and re-enactments. The latter move undercuts some of the movie’s authenticity. Granted, there probably wasn’t another way to film it, but it muddies the film’s sense of truth.