79
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Village VoiceDiana ClarkeVillage VoiceDiana ClarkeBurshtein's lush visual sensibility, and the subtle performances of the excellent cast, create an aching portrayal of longing and interdependence that transcends the boundaries of the family's small world.
- 100The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottWhat the film makes clear, with unfailing sensitivity and wry humor, is that for Shira and her family the ordinary arrangements of living are freighted with moral and spiritual significance.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranA transfixing, emotionally complex Israeli drama.
- 85NPRElla TaylorNPRElla TaylorBurshtein refuses to engage with the culture wars that flare fiercely between secular and religious types in Israel; in fact she's trying to avoid types of any kind, which may be why secular audiences and critics have embraced her rapturous depiction of a community living its life, more separate from than at odds with the society beyond.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfThe film isn’t exactly rousing in its conclusion, but it’s always respectful: a serious ethical inquiry into matters of women’s choice, both imposed and seized upon. Check it out.
- 75Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSlant MagazineAndrew SchenkerThe film unfolds in unhurried dramatic terms that come to take on an almost fatalistic force.
- 65Film.comJordan HoffmanFilm.comJordan HoffmanFill the Void is, in the worst sense of the word, a “women’s picture,” in which people wring their hands and worry, wail and weep over marriage and maintaining the status quo.
- 50New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeTrouble is, while the social milieu is nicely realized, other parts of the drama are not. Too often Burshtein cuts off a scene prematurely, darting away just as the crucial moment of emotion or confrontation appears.
- 42The PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe PlaylistOliver LytteltonBurshtein has devoted most of the last 20 years teaching and making film in that world, but here makes her international feature debut with a curious comedy-drama that has its strengths, but ultimately proves somewhat disappointing.