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The Last September
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 23
  3. Negative: 1 out of 23
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  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Desmond Ryan
    100
    Undeniable asset of an A list cast.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    100
    A gorgeous autumnal period piece that catches a vanishing proprietary class on the eve of its extinction in Ireland in 1920.
  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    90
    This is one of those rare times when a credit-heavy gathering of top film talents actually manages to produce a work of art.
  4. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Bill Gallo
    90
    Impeccably acted by a fine ensemble cast, it's a sheer pleasure to behold.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    90
    A luminous, piercing film from the Elizabeth Bowen novel, richly evokes a world of privilege on the verge of disintegration.
  6. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    90
    Like hard-edged "Masterpiece Theater."
  7. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: John Petrakis
    88
    One of those rare movies that manages to maintain the hushed intensity and claustrophobic anxiety that is normally associated with theater or prose.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    83
    There's something Slavic about Warner's storytelling.
  9. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    80
    A Melancholy Delight. Its pacing will undoubtedly seem too deliberate to some, but I found first-time director Deborah Warner's The Last September a delight from beginning to end.
  10. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    The movie doesn't have much more get-up-and-go than the characters, but solid performances and richly textured camera work keep it involving most of the way through.
  11. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Curtis Morgan
    75
    Sad confusions and emotional disconnections are what the story is all about.
  12. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    The quality of acting in September, coupled with Idziak's images, warrant a visit.
  13. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Leslie Camhi
    70
    The film's pathos lies not with people who have justice on their side, but with those who don't know where they belong.
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    70
    More interesting for the world it evokes rather than the drama that unfolds.
  15. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    70
    This gorgeous expressionist drama makes the comparisons so effectively at the outset that by the end they seem belabored.
  16. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Diana Abu-Jaber
    67
    There's enough caustic wit, romance and dizzy whimsy to make The Last September, if not deep, at least diverting.
  17. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    63
    Instead of a sweeping epic, this adaptation of a novel by Elizabeth Bowen is much quieter, a work perhaps too understated and stereotypical for its own good.
  18. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    I'm not sure the movie should have pumped up the melodrama to get us more interested, but something might have helped.
  19. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    Saga too arty for own good.
  20. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    Overall, The Last September is a real snooze.
  21. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Steve Simels
    50
    There's a certain built-in poignance to the end-of-an-era proceedings here, regardless of how frostily they're dramatized.
  22. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    42
    A botched job: the various relationships and personal histories of the characters are never made clear, the last act is glaringly disjointed, the writing and direction are all over the map.
  23. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    30
    Not even the rich and nuanced performances of stage veterans Smith, Gambon, and Birkin can save this British period drama from languishing amid the story's unfocused longings and unrealistic musings.
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