61
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartAnimated sequences give life to various voice-overs, but are never as interesting as the young woman herself.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberHe Named Me Malala retells that story in a deft and affecting way. Director Davis Guggenheim, who made the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth and the controversial Waiting for Superman, does some of his most heartfelt work in this tribute to Malala and her entire family.
- 70Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganIn the slim but powerful documentary He Named Me Malala Davis Guggenheim attempts to colour in a shy, yet deceptively stout-hearted schoolgirl and her symbiotically-close relationship with her father, indicated by the film’s title.
- 60The GuardianCatherine ShoardThe GuardianCatherine ShoardGuggenheim largely dodges lodging her story within a greater political context; a choice, but a shame, for when he does, the movie gains tension.
- 60VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangWhere the film falters is in its willingness to settle for canned uplift, reducing the substance of Malala’s global activism to multicultural montages, goosed by Thomas Newman’s emotional cattle prod of a score.
- 60CineVueCineVueIts flesh and heart lie in the private and personal moments.
- 58The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezWhile it’s hard to indict the movie for wanting to admire and honor this extraordinary girl, the movie loses its own inherent potency with a haphazard structure that jumps around far too much in time and a monotonous narrative about Malala overcoming oppressors to bravely speak out and inspire the world.
- 50The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyA puff piece for someone who doesn’t need one, Malala wraps Yousafzai’s life in media-circuit testimonials and fairy-tale-like animated sequences that stop just short of drawing an aureola of fire around her.
- 38Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaSlant MagazineKenji FujishimaThe effect of the film's animated sequences is to distance the viewer from real-life horrors--another misguided attempt at turning recent history into instant myth.