The Cove
Lionsgate | Release Date: July 31, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterJustin Lowe
Shot rivetingly by cinematographer Brooke Aitken, who combines digital, night-vision and thermal-imaging formats into a formidable package, the footage is edited tautly by Geoffrey Richman and enhanced measurably by J. Ralph's suspenseful score. Read full review
100
VarietyJustin Chang
Eco-activist documentaries don't get much more compelling than The Cove, an impassioned piece of advocacy filmmaking that follows "Flipper" trainer-turned-marine crusader Richard O'Barry in his efforts to end dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The end of The Cove is as rousing as anything from Hollywood. Manipulative? Sure--but isn't that fitting? Capitalism has driven an entire village to massacre dolphins and keep its work hidden. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
What's so remarkable about Louie Psihoyos' documentary The Cove isn't just that it's a powerful work of agitprop that's going to have you sending furious e-mails to the Japanese Embassy on your way out of the theater. That's definitely true, but the effectiveness of The Cove also comes from its explosive cinematic craft, its surprising good humor and its pure excitement. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are many documentaries angry about the human destruction of the planetary peace. This is one of the very best -- a certain Oscar nominee. Read full review
100
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
At once an astonishing feat of advocacy filmmaking and a white knuckle eco-thriller; think Michael Moore meets Michael Mann. Read full review
100
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
Not only does it deliver a powerful message, but it is wrapped in an immensely entertaining package. Read full review
90
Village VoiceElla Taylor
The Cove is properly enchanting, horrifying, and rousing, but it comes dangerously close to making the narcissistic case that dolphins deserve to be saved because they're cute and breathe air like we do. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Like the director's cover story, the movie is a Trojan horse: an exceptionally well-made documentary that unfolds like a spy thriller, complete with bugged hotel rooms, clandestine derring-do and mysterious men in gray flannel suits. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle Smith
Two fins up for The Cove, a documentary that whales on evil Japanese fishermen who kill dolphins for lunch meat. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
An eco-mentary that's as passionate and persuasive an argument for change as "An Inconvenient Truth." Read full review
85
NPRBob Mondello
Psihoyos describes his troops as a kind of "Ocean's 11" team, and that's apt enough: He's making a real-life action caper, a heist with potential consequences in the real world. The buildup to getting the shots they want has a good deal of natural tension. And the payoff -- well, let's just say it's devastating. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Cove is the rare documentary specifically designed as a thriller. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's an exemplary and incendiary instance of documentary filmmaking as real-world advocacy. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A powerful and effective piece of advocacy filmmaking, but it's difficult to watch it without thinking of subtitles like "The Place Where Evil Dwells" or "The Little Town With the Really Big Secret." Which is no accident. Read full review
80
EmpirePhilip Wilding
A taut, thrilling documentary that plays out like a heist movie while never overshadowing its message or activist credentials. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The Cove exposes the dark secrets that underpin the world’s dolphin mania, whether it’s our enjoyment of the animals performing circus tricks in aquariums, the swimming-with-dolphins industry, or the government recruitment of the sea mammals’ intelligence, communication, and sonar abilities for military applications. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The Cove plays like a thriller. It has the breathless pace of a "Bourne" movie, but none of the comfort of fiction. This is documentary filmmaking at its most exciting and purposeful. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The most horrific -- and heartbreaking -- scene of any movie thus far this year comes at the climax of The Cove. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The Oceanic Preservation Society doesn't change the world so much as call attention to something so very wrong with it. And in doing so, The Cove culminates with an image of political agitation that might be one of the most oddly effective public service announcements you'll see. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Michael Posner
Hopefully, after seeing this film, interest in places like Sea World will begin to decline. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
The caper-movie touches and cocky self-awareness may wear thin, but you can't discount the importance, or the horror, of that footage. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The film makes its case graphically, to say the least, yet muddies its bloody waters with an excess of artifice and a dearth of facts. Read full review
70
Washington PostPhilip Kennicott
The slaughter is part of a traditional fishing culture, according to the Japanese. But if you succumb to the emotional appeal of this documentary, it emerges not just as a bloody and brutal business but almost as bad as genocide. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Directed by Louie Psihoyos, this well-intentioned documentary exposes the harvesting of dolphins by Japanese fishermen, yet its theatrics suggest a cross between reality TV and "Mission: Impossible." Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The Cove's ultimate message gets muddled, especially since Psihoyos limits all counter-arguments to a few inarticulate or thuggish boobs. Read full review
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