62
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88RogerEbert.comNell MinowRogerEbert.comNell MinowMost Holocaust dramas show us the trains, the barbed wire, and the starving prisoners. This movie shows us what happened before, making the story real by making us identify with the people who were lost.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThrough an affecting mix of comedy, romance and drama, A Radiant Girl sounds a warning about the perils of not looking directly at tough realities. And yet it’s so alive from moment to moment, so finely attuned to the emotional lives of its characters, that it never feels like a history lesson dressed up as narrative.
- 70VarietyCatherine BrayVarietyCatherine BrayNewcomer Marder’s performance is a thoroughly engaging one. She manages to demonstrate both screen presence and likability, despite a role which requires her to represent youthful optimism to an almost symbolic degree.
- 70Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenThere are no false moves in Marder’s truly radiant lead performance.
- 50Screen DailyJonathan RomneyScreen DailyJonathan RomneyThis is a film with some grace and exuberance, but a cavalier attitude to period verisimilitude only adds to the impression that, when it comes to facing ugly historical reality, Kiberlain’s approach is naïvely inadequate.
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreAs stories of the Occupation and impending Holocaust go, A Radiant Girl never overcomes its artistic emotional detachment.
- 40The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaThe New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaAt points, the contrast between Irene’s joy and the encroaching horrors is jarring and eerie, but A Radiant Girl seldom hits these notes — the rest is deflating and awkward.