77
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisEthereal, intensely moving.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKimber MyersLos Angeles TimesKimber MyersIt’s a humane, compassionate film, simultaneously full of beauty, sadness and struggle.
- 75Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezThe film is a haunting portrait of the island as a purgatorial realm between the poles of isolation and liberation.
- The film is as much an exploration of often contradictory human attitudes towards migration as it is towards the experiences of the refugees themselves.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckNonetheless, Island of the Hungry Ghosts casts an undeniably hypnotic spell. The documentary also serves as an important reminder that the United States is far from alone in mistreating its would-be immigrants.
- 42The PlaylistChris BarsantiThe PlaylistChris BarsantiBy refusing to illuminate the detainees’ stories or the humanitarian crisis—not widely reported enough for Brady to take the audience’s familiarity as a given—they are trapped inside, The Island of Hungry Ghosts relegates itself to being little more than a pretty but wispy curiosity that fails its beleaguered subjects.