73
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganIt’s a rich and complicated film.
- 80VarietyNick SchagerVarietyNick SchagerHoover’s style seems equally fit for a bleak documentary, suspenseful thriller, black comedy, dystopian sci-fi nightmare and grisly horror film.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenSteve Hoover's documentary affords one an unusually intimate glance at the collapsed infrastructure of the former Soviet Union.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenHoover doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty of the kids’ detox and rehabilitation, but Mokhnenko’s compassion is as evident as his self-regard, and inextricable from his sense of a moral imperative.
- 70Village VoiceMichael NordineVillage VoiceMichael NordineSteve Hoover's film (which was executive-produced by Terrence Malick) doesn't feel dishonest in its behind-the-scenes glimpse at its subject.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAlmost Holy captures something meaningfully urgent in the brutal day-to-day of tough love amid a world of tougher indifference.
- 67The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakThe documentary gets repetitive as Mokhnenko does his thing over and over again. The promise of more keeps us engaged and the absence of it disappoints. This is too bad because when it works it is captivating.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThis Ukrainian Crocodile Preacher makes an arresting subject, someone you’ll want to meet just to hear his story and see the past that put him on the path to being his country’s “Catcher in the Rye,” saving children from an ugly world and a doomed future.
- 50The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergA good example of how a charismatic figure doesn’t automatically generate a deep or compelling documentary.