52
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Original-CinLinda BarnardOriginal-CinLinda BarnardWhile Gutnik has assembled a talented cast, the constraints of a 105-minute runtime means the stories feel underdone in places, including anything about that furiously entitled man in the subway.
- 60VarietyNick SchagerVarietyNick SchagerThe film is formally beautiful almost to a fault, giving it a schematic quality that’s at odds with its roiling emotions.
- 60The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaThe New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaAs it stands, the glue uniting these women of different ethnicities and backgrounds reads like a failed attempt to carve a more ambitious meaning out of individual stories already brimming with possibility.
- 58The Film StageOrla SmithThe Film StageOrla SmithIt’s tempting to blame the broadness of Materna on the short runtimes of each segment, Gutnik and his screenwriters having little time to establish and explore each character’s identity.
- 50Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenRarely do the filmmakers show people mutually affecting one another in cycles of pain and control, rather than blaming phantom figures.
- 50RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyRogerEbert.comTomris LafflyThe strongest point Gutnik makes with his film is that we all have a concealed story when we share common spaces in silence. But that sadly isn’t enough of a hook to carry out this scattershot effort.
- 50IndieWireKristen LopezIndieWireKristen LopezMaterna has some good ideas, but the surrounding landscape feels generic.
- 42The PlaylistKristy PuchkoThe PlaylistKristy PuchkoUltimately, Materna feels like a hodgepodge of half-finished drafts from one-act plays, pompous short films, and dusty first screenplays.