77
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawCalin Peter Netzer's Child's Pose is a gripping new drama from Romania and another demonstration of how that country's new wave is developing a distinctive kind of real-time slice-of-life cinema with characterisation in extreme, pitiless closeup.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichA complex final scene — in which everyone finally lets the tears flow — only deepens the sense that well-meaning mother love can be as poisonous as it is nourishing.
- 80Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonWith Child's Pose, the Romanian tide enters its Cassavetes phase, where the thin ice of haute bourgeoisie life cracks and opens wide.
- 75The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangThe last quarter of Child's Pose is so remarkably strong that it makes a sometimes grim journey worth sticking with to its destination.
- 70The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasThrough it all, Gheorghiu finds the perfect pitch between a mother’s love for her child and a kind of pathology.
- 67The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloSporting a blonde dye job and a haughty, impervious manner, Gheorghiu makes Cornelia a consistently compelling figure, at once monstrous and pathetic.
- 63Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoThe film thrives on ambiguity, keeping all things blurry outside its main character's focused perspective, its myopia sustained by Luminița Gheorghiu's tough, quietly intense performance.
- 60Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonTime Out LondonTrevor JohnstonChild’s Pose plays its thematic cards far too early, but it’s sustained by Gheorghiu’s compelling central turn as the endlessly self-deluding grande dame.
- 60Total FilmTom DawsonTotal FilmTom DawsonThe restlessness of the camerawork may drive you to distraction, but director/co-writer Calin Peter Netzer’s film is held steady by Gheorghiu’s staunch performance.
- 60The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisIt’s too bad that the filmmakers don’t allow an occasional breath of air into the sepulchral proceedings or ease up on the increasingly heavy-handed lessons.