80
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadayAs enlightening as Coup 53 is as a secret history, it’s even more satisfying as an aesthetic exercise, treating viewers to one of cleverest workarounds in cinematic problem-solving in recent memory. It’s a nonfiction film that functions precisely as all documentaries should: as a piece of doggedly investigative, personally transparent reporting, and as simply great storytelling, full stop.
- 80The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergIs Coup 53 trustworthy in every respect? Perhaps not. Both as a detective story and as a deep dive into a world event whose consequences linger, it is bracing, absorbing filmmaking.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIf I had a criticism of this film, it is that – like so many historians of spies and spying – the director gets a little overexcited about the archive details. Still, what a riveting story: a grim curtain-raiser to today’s tragedies.
- 80Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWhether or not Darbyshire’s admission is the bombshell Mr. Amirani says it is, his account is a chilling commentary on a dark chapter in Middle East history.
- 80Time OutDave CalhounTime OutDave CalhounIt wins you over with its scrappy underdog antics and then, later, bowls you over with its heavyweight insights.
- 78Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovFiennes assumes the character and recites shocking revelations that Amirami’s obsessive research has disclosed. It sounds like a cheap trick, but the actor pulls it off flawlessly.
- 75Slant MagazineChris BarsantiSlant MagazineChris BarsantiOnce Taghi Amirani turns his attention to the coup itself, his film snaps into shape, with Walter Murch skillfully knitting together new and old interviews to lay out the story in highly dramatic form.
- 75RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyCoup 53 is worth seeing, but its general effect on this viewer was to seek out more books, rather than movies, on the subject. Which I suppose is something.
- 67TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondAs the movie turns more conventional, it struggles to retain the freshness it once had.