80
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpFor a movie about government incompetence married to government malfeasance, Costa Brava, Lebanon is surprisingly funny.
- 90TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceTheWrapRonda Racha PenriceMounia Akl’s debut feature film Costa Brava, Lebanon is valiant filmmaking. Using the beauty of cinema to show the destruction of man’s cruelty to the environment is not just effective — it’s heartbreaking.
- 83The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakAkl provides the scenario a keen insight that only someone going through the same push and pull as the characters could.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreA mix of overt shouting matches and subtler moments illustrate this war of wills, ideologies and parenting styles. And the odd hallucinatory reverie reminds the characters, and the viewer, that try as we might, there’s no wishing a big problem away when it comes bulldozing and dynamiting at your door.
- 75RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyThe film’s images entangle us with the characters, which makes its indeterminate ending a little more disappointing than it might have been. But this post-cataclysm habitat is worth paying a visit anyway.
- 70VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangThe gentle wisdom it contains is less to do with activist and environmentalist issues and more attuned to country, family and lifestyle choices as abstract concepts, as all the things we mean by the word “home,” which is where Akl’s heart is.
- 70The New York TimesAustin ConsidineThe New York TimesAustin ConsidineIf a fuller sense of their humanity is sometimes lost to the ideas they serve, Akl has nonetheless produced a smart and sensitive film.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichThe Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichWhen it comes to individual people and their hopes, fears and desires, Akl has a talent for both the surreal flourish and the grounded insight. In this case, the bigger picture and the larger point are what prove elusive, leaving the whole enterprise feeling sadly schematic.