81
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonMy Joy is a maddening vision and one of the year's must-see provocations.
- 90The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThe world of My Joy is grim, though the experience of watching it and piecing together its fragmented story strands is anything but. It's suspenseful, mysterious, at times bitterly funny, consistently moving and filled with images of a Russia haunted both by ghosts and the living dead.
- 90SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirMy Joy has a bleak, grotesque, near-perfect poetry in its soul.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineSergei Loznitsa's documentaries are mainly compilations of archival footage, so it makes sense that his first fiction film is also essentially a compilation, an array of dynamic, aggressive bits rather than one coherent text.
- 75The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThose schooled in Eastern European history may have better luck deciphering it, but what keeps it compelling throughout is Loznitsa's direction, which favors sophisticated long takes and particularly suspenseful use of foreground and background action. His next film should be a doozy.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfThe film's sociopolitical critique is as dull as a sledgehammer - and maybe on the money - but the truth is far more entertaining.