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Afghan Star
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Curiel
    100
    A remarkable documentary.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    100
    One of the most hopeful and heart-rending movies I've seen this year.
  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    91
    Judging from this film, a pop cultural resurgence in Afghanistan seems ultimately unstoppable, even with a resurgent Taliban, if for no other reason than that 60 percent of the population is under 21. Also, this is a country, as we see again and again, that loves to sing.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    83
    If nothing else, Afghan Star offers a reminder of how much has changed in Afghanistan from the late '70s--when Kabul was a secular-oriented city with co-ed universities and a thriving nightclub scene--to the rise of the Taliban.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Chris Barsanti
    80
    Wholly one-third of the country, some 11 million people, watched the finale. Marking's film is too astute to pretend that such fleeting things can bring about peaceful democracy, but it's also perfectly aware that they certainly can't hurt.
  6. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Whitney Borup
    80
    An inspiring, fun documentary.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    If you believe that bringing the questionable virtues of "American Idol" to Afghanistan would do that beleaguered nation no favors, the remarkable documentary Afghan Star will change your mind in an instant.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    The movie uses the talent show Afghan Star as a prism through which to examine the fragmented tribal culture of Afghanistan as reflected in the backgrounds of four finalists (two of them women) and the public responses to their performances.
  9. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    80
    Afghan Star goes much deeper, eloquently conveying the tensions, small victories and shattering setbacks of a fragile democracy struggling to regain a once-flourishing culture.
  10. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    75
    Focusing on the contestants who make the initial cut -- two men and two women -- the film can't resist wringing some American Idol-style suspense from speculation about who the eventual victor will be. But the movie also leaves no doubt as to who the real winners are.
  11. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    The show works pretty much the same as "Idol" does, with Afghans voting by cellphone for their favorite performers. But this is Afghanistan, where the Taliban still has power, not America.
  12. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    75
    The movie documents much more than a talent competition -- it documents a political movement.
  13. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    75
    Of all the films to come out the conflict, Afghan Star is the most provocative, because its message that people are essentially the same is a dubious, double-edge sword.
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    70
    Marking follows the finalists around on the last leg of their PR campaigns and captures something sweetly goofy, with an edge of creepy, about their aping of smarmy American self-promotion (kissing babies, etc).
  15. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    70
    Not the slickest or most crowd-pleasing among many recent performance-competition docus, it's nonetheless absorbing for the light it casts on those many Afghanis who want an end to guns and fanaticism, and the return of a social liberalism.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    One of the more surreal docs to come down the pike in some time.
  17. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    60
    Fascinating and, when you see Afghan versions of Simon Cowell and Co. reacting to tryouts, a reminder of how fame and the thirst for it is the same in any language.
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