79
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100IndieWireLeila LatifIndieWireLeila LatifGarrone’s film has a three-dimensional and devastatingly realized human soul at its core. The world could do with paying attention to Seydou’s story and the millions of other real ones like it.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSan Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonThe late film critic Roger Ebert called movies an “empathy machine,” and “Io Capitano” stands as Garrone’s plea for empathy in a debate that sorely lacks it.
- 88Slant MagazineChris BarsantiSlant MagazineChris BarsantiThe film builds on a docudrama realism while also reaching toward the mythological.
- 88Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanIo Capitano takes a news story that’s mostly about numbers, and puts a human face on it.
- 85Paste MagazinePaste MagazineThe film highlights the resilience of its subjects and mobilizes us to reflect on persistent racist immigration policies.
- 80VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeMe Captain is surprisingly classical in construction and style, wisely guiding our attention away from its sure directorial touch and toward the story at hand — pieced together by a small army of screenwriters and collaborating contributors from first-hand migrant accounts.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinWhile the landscapes, especially in the parched Sahara section of the story, are dazzling, Carnera’s camera always keeps the focus on the humans, sometimes specks seen from great distances moving through the sand and sometimes studied in close-ups that fill the widescreen canvas.
- 80Screen DailyLee MarshallScreen DailyLee MarshallThe gritty realism of Io Capitano’s story is leavened throughout by recognizably ‘Garronian’ touches; pools of magic realism, theatrical set pieces of colourful intensity.
- 80CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleThere are moments when Garrone’s vision strays too close to the fable in its narrative even as its images portray a brutal reality. However, Io Capitano doesn’t lose its humanity.