Alive Inside
Ximotion Media | Release Date: July 18, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterDuane ByrgeJan 27, 2014
A gloriously inspirational film documenting music’s healing power in Alzheimer patients. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 31, 2014
As much a plea to change the system as it is an examination of how music helps individuals, Alive Inside is not the most sophisticated documentary, but its power is indisputable, and it does end on a hopeful note. Read full review
90
Village VoiceNick SchagerJul 15, 2014
Practically guaranteed to elicit tears within its first five minutes, Alive Inside... is nonetheless more than just a tearjerker. Read full review
83
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicJul 24, 2014
Alive Inside contains a tiny revolution within its message, and will likely end up being one of the most important documentaries of the year. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoAug 7, 2014
Questions of politics and policy, even urgent ones, seem pretty dry after watching Henry and the other elderly patients come to life. Those scenes are a revelation. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 24, 2014
As the movie makes clear, none of these conditions are reversible. Music isn’t a cure for anything. But it does seem to be a key to unlocking long-closed doors and establishing connections with people who have become, through age or infirmity, imprisoned inside themselves. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghAug 14, 2014
The film is less effective, and less focused, when it switches into activism mode. Not that its heart isn't in the right place — we all know about the appalling state of institutionalized elder care. Which is the problem with those segments: We all know this already, and the filmmaking feels like perfunctory, necessary padding. Read full review
70
VarietyRob NelsonJan 28, 2014
Rossato-Bennett’s over-the-top narration often sounds cloying and banal... But the filmmaker succeeds in providing context, medical and historical, in between awakenings. Read full review
67
IndieWireSteve GreeneJan 27, 2014
Whether it's purely through the use of music or through the individual, attentive care given by some of the featured nursing home workers, the proof of positive changes presented in "Alive Inside" provide a sense of idealism amid bleak situations. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick McCarthyJul 17, 2014
The doc is heartwarming, but it doesn't delve deeply into the backstories that inform the ailing patients' connection to the music that stirs their memories. Read full review
60
The DissolveAndrew LapinJul 15, 2014
Cohen’s goal—to bring music to every nursing home—is modest, and the film is smart to follow his lead by keeping bombastic rhetoric to a minimum. Strangely, though, the movie lacks any discussion of professional music therapists, who have been doing this kind of work for decades. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 16, 2014
Alive Inside runs a brisk 78 minutes, but that’s still far more time than it requires to make its point; once you’ve seen a couple of old people suddenly come to life upon hearing “I Get Around” or “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” there’s not much to be gained by being presented with half a dozen more instances. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJul 18, 2014
A passionate documentary with a lot of valuable information to impart, and a laudable humanist agenda to push. Unfortunately, it’s also not a particularly good movie. In fact, at certain points it can be an actively annoying one. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldJul 17, 2014
Neither the value of music nor the deficiencies of certain nursing homes are tough to debate. But a documentary that never leaves any doubt about what comes next, while single-mindedly stumping for a cause presented as unique, is also not terribly interesting as a film. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 31, 2014
Unfortunately, though, Rossato-Bennett and Cohen seem to think that the technique is a panacea. In fact, it is not even original, as music therapy in nursing homes has been around for some time. Read full review
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