73
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriIts subject is timely but its presentation is timeless — it’s a war movie, a family drama, a Greek tragedy.
- 91The PlaylistMarshall ShafferThe PlaylistMarshall ShafferEspecially after the film’s stunning conclusion, Athena is destined to leave jaws on the floor and heart rates significantly elevated long after the credits roll. This is the painful, perilous present tense written in the flash of a smartphone camera and the blaze of a Molotov cocktail.
- 90Rolling StoneDavid FearRolling StoneDavid FearIt’s a movie that utilizes every bit of Gavras’ abundant chops and marshals them to make a coherent statement, tapping brains and heart and spleen in the name of forcing you to recognize what he’s putting in front of you.
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorGavras, for better and worse, is a creature of spectacle; not apolitical, per se, but more concerned with triggers and semiotics than manifestos.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThe result is nothing short of an urban war movie, as charismatic characters decide to do something about the outrage people have been expressing toward law enforcement in the real world.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyWhile the film’s emphatic style can become draining, and its attention to technique risks overshadowing the interpersonal drama, there’s an operatic grandeur here that won’t quit, giving the constantly escalating violence considerable power.
- 75TheWrapCarlos AguilarTheWrapCarlos AguilarWithin the first few minutes of Athena, it’s clear this is propulsive filmmaking with thematic substance.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt’s spectacular and immersive, with a sensational opening. But it gets bogged down in its own one-note, one-tempo uproar and open-ended parkour camerawork – impressive though that is – and suffers from a number of sneaky false-flag get-out clauses that feel like a cop-out.
- 60Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonWielding an ambitious visual strategy and volatile political commentary, Athena explodes but then fizzles, its often arresting images slowly undone by fuzzy ideas and a self-important air.
- 58IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichAthena effectively taps into the class, racial, and religious angers of modern France, which it sees as a powder keg that’s just waiting for the right spark to explode, but the film’s broad saga of brothers in crisis is so thin and symbolic that any deeper connection to the real world is sacrificed at the altar of intensity. An intensity that resists psychology, muffles sociopolitical context, and eventually swallows itself whole.