84
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisFew movies capture the surreal comedy and engulfing horror of the money-driven world as piercingly as “Stonewalling.”
- 90Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangWhen the movie goes in for an infrequent closeup — a shot of ultrasound gel being smeared on Lynn’s belly or of Lynn’s face as she puts on a surgical mask in the immediate wake of the COVID-19 outbreak — the intimacy is startling, and instructive.
- 88RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonRogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonStonewalling is a moving slow burn of a character study, as well as an examination of female stagnancy, personally and politically. There is a striking, human sense of suspense to the film as we worry for Lynn, and root for her to find her power.
- 80Screen DailyWendy IdeScreen DailyWendy IdeThe latest picture from husband and wife team Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji is an engrossing and thoughtful, if slightly meandering, portrait of contemporary China which straddles the impact of Tik Tok, the self-commodification of a whole generation of ambitious young people and the social and shadow of the pandemic.
- 75IndieWireSteph GreenIndieWireSteph GreenVisually, emotionally, and spiritually, the film is embalmed in an antiseptic sheen. As such, despite its formal rigor and effective, economic approach to storytelling, “Stonewalling” is hard to connect with.
- 75Slant MagazineSam C. MacSlant MagazineSam C. MacStonewalling is an attentive, engaged character study, an uncommonly candid (for China) women’s picture, and a film of dense and considered sociopolitical implications.
- If it lends to creating a hazy portrait for the future of China’s youth, it also makes for a rather meandering and tepid affair. Huang and Otsuka’s form of subtlety and “facts-of-life” approach keep Stonewalling from being the incisive drama they’re clearly considering. Yet the movie gets its point across, much as you might wait for it to get there.
- 63Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreIt’s worth checking out Stonewalling just to see a picture of China that’s not State Approved or attempted by outsiders.