78
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzRogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOne of Us is so strong as-is that its more harrowing sections — particularly Ari's account of his childhood suffering and the details of Rachel's fight for freedom — are so already hard to watch that you might want to turn away.
- 80The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergAs a documentary, One of Us is a small act of portraiture, but each portrait captures the pain of having a life upended.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe film is a nuanced and moving illustration of the dilemma facing doubting members of the growing Hasidic community in New York City.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranIn the mythology of personal growth, liberating yourself leads invariably to increased happiness. Yet what characterizes the seekers in the powerful One of Us is nothing that straightforward.
- 80The film’s revelations are two-pronged: They uncover much about the Hasidic community, while also more broadly exposing how insular groups keep people in and everyone else out. It’s hard to leave, even when staying is impossible too.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinGrady and Ewing use music as scary as in any horror film. They had no interest in making an “objective documentary,” although I doubt the Hasidim would have made themselves available to two women with a camera and their own hair. In such cases, they usually say, “If you want to understand us, read the Torah.”
- 75Slant MagazineChristopher GraySlant MagazineChristopher GrayIt's incisive in its condemnation of the oppression innate in the social structure of Brooklyn's Hasidic communities.
- 67The A.V. ClubJosh ModellThe A.V. ClubJosh ModellThe film does little to explain the history behind the dynamic between their men and women, which is based, it seems, at least partly on a blinding fear of lust.
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreWe expect documentaries to tell us the ugly, unvarnished truth, although that’s generally a futile hope and a goal rarely achieved. In this case, selective editing stigmatizes its heroine and avoids the more interesting wrinkles in the story, which — difficult as it was to tell — feels incomplete.