Nénette
  • Release Date: Dec 22, 2010
Metascore
66 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    Dec 22, 2010
    90
    Beautiful in its minimalism, Nénette is no antizoo rant but a melancholy meditation on captivity.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Jan 20, 2011
    88
    The movie isn't a critique of zoo life. But it's possible we have on our hands, in Nénette's captivity, a microcosm of celebrity star-gazing.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Merry
    Feb 26, 2011
    75
    The animal's striking resemblance to a human is part of what makes Nicolas Philibert's documentary Nenette so evocative.
  4. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Joe Williams
    Feb 25, 2011
    75
    Paul Simon and a Parisian orangutan tell us the same thing: It's all happening at the zoo.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    Jan 27, 2011
    75
    The best part about the movie is the way it shifts focus, starting as an observation of the animal and then subtly morphing to the point of view of Nénette, who passively experiences a jumble of voices that start to run together.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    Dec 22, 2010
    75
    The best kid-friendly movie of the holiday season is Nénette, a portrait of an orangutan.
  7. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
    Feb 2, 2011
    60
    It's a wonderfully moving meditation on the capacity of animals to inspire our imaginations and something applicable to educational markets as well as regular documentary audiences.
  8. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    Jan 31, 2011
    60
    A gently moving film that's always thought-provoking if at times a little slow going.
  9. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Nicolas Rapold
    Dec 22, 2010
    60
    Like most primates, Nénette is both fascinatingly familiar and strange, capable of almost human expressions yet totally unknowable (as well as massive and hairy).
  10. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    Dec 22, 2010
    58
    As with all of Philibert's work, Nénette is impeccably composed and admirably disciplined, but his patient observation can't unlock the mysteries of an animal that's grown more introspective and likely less expressive over time.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Melissa Anderson
    Dec 23, 2010
    50
    Watching Nénette watch those who gape at her is an intriguing, multi-layered exercise of voyeurism, but one that wanes after our gaze is demanded for too long.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    Dec 25, 2010
    40
    Our time spent with Nenette feel as stifling and airless as hers.

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