66
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83ColliderMarco Vito OddoColliderMarco Vito OddoThe Survival of Kindness might be too abstract for its own good, a creative decision that will alienate a good part of its potential audience. Still, this is a remarkable return for de Heer, as The Survival of Kindness lingers with you long after the credits roll, forcing the viewer to reflect on the tough questions of race and power it explores.
- 80VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangMan’s enormous inhumanity to man is reproduced in precise, characterful miniature, with a pared-back artistry that somehow earns de Heer the right to be thematically blunt, and deeply pessimistic.
- 75Slant MagazinePat BrownSlant MagazinePat BrownAn epic adventure in the guise of an arthouse flick, The Survival of Kindness makes up in visual power and moral clarity what it lacks in subtext.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe Survival of Kindness has static elements of an art installation, a non-narrative dream state that is part arresting, part frustrating.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAlthough the storytelling conveys deep compassion for the plight of persecuted peoples, and Hussein’s unflinching performance speaks volumes, mostly without words, there’s a grim inevitability to The Survival of Kindness that becomes wearing, making its 96 minutes feel longer.