81
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Slant MagazineKeith UhlichSlant MagazineKeith UhlichTerence Davies’s film is a rhapsodic portrayal of an upper-crust milieu in which words are wielded like weapons by people who might otherwise be pariahs.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThis is a film that trembles with a need for redemption that never comes, and the urgency of that search is palpable enough that you can feel it first-hand, even if Benediction is never particularly clear about the nature of the redemption it’s hoping to find.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawBenediction is not an easy experience and some of the caustic, brittle dialogue scenes with Sassoon’s celebrity acquaintances are grating – yet deliberately so. The sadness is overwhelming.
- 80Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenA benediction is a prayer for divine help. For any lover of beautifully crafted cinema with real emotional charge, Davies’s latest will feel a lot like an answer.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorThe dialogue is quietly scathing, and the production values are sumptuous. But Davies seems most interested in Sassoon as a symbol of hemmed-in Englishness. As a character, he remains poetically opaque.
- 75The Film StageC.J. PrinceThe Film StageC.J. PrinceThe comedy in Benediction is like a spoonful of sugar before Davies brings in the medicine.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThis biographical drama, grounded in the anguished poetry of its protagonist, is hushed and decorous to a fault. But it does eventually wind its way to a profoundly affecting conclusion.
- 67The PlaylistGregory EllwoodThe PlaylistGregory EllwoodDespite Davis’ lyrical direction, the obvious gaps in the screenplay provide too many holes for what strives to be a definitive portrait of an exceptional talent.