Critic Reviews
70
Metascore
Generally Favorable
positive
5(71%)
mixed
2(29%)
negative
0(0%)
Showing 7 Critic Reviews
100
With his carefully controlled pacing and superb use of sound, Sarkies draws the viewer deep into the experience of a town caught completely off-guard by a kind of violence they could never have expected, and won't soon forget.
75
A taut thriller based on the tragedy, which remains the most lethal mass killing in New Zealand history.
75
As sensitive to its subject as it is stark in its rendering.
70
Chilling, often moving docudrama focuses not so much on the mayhem or murderer, but on the bewildered, occasionally courageous reactions of ordinary citizens caught in the inexplicable violence.
70
The director confronts horror without wallowing in it, a strategy befitting a film that’s not about how people die, but how they live.
50
There's some nifty soft-focus cinematography and fine performances, but otherwise, not much to resonate on this side of the pond.
50
Ultimately, the film, for all its evident verisimilitude, never really demonstrates a compelling reason for being.
