Woman at War
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 1, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 28, 2019
With a masterful melding of the serious, the comic, the ridiculous and the musical, Woman at War is joyful to experience though difficult to sum up. Read full review
100
VarietyJay WeissbergMay 18, 2018
Erlingsson’s genius lies in how he puts it all together with such witty intelligence, arranging beautifully shot picaresque episodes around a central figure who lives the ideals of the heroes she has hanging on her wall, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 28, 2019
Approaching weighty themes with a very light touch, Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War is an environmental drama wrapped in whimsical comedy and tied with a bow of midlife soul-searching. Read full review
90
TheWrapSteve PondNov 19, 2018
Woman at War is a beautiful hoot. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 3, 2019
Despite its probe of deep moral questions, Woman at War (a multiple award winner on the festival circuit as well as having been Iceland’s entry for Oscar consideration last year) maintains a light feel and concludes with a sense of uplift as we watch human beings forge ahead despite the floodwaters rising around them. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyMar 1, 2019
A thoughtful and dynamic blend of genres, Benedikt Erlingsson’s contemporary environmental fable Woman At War continually thrills with a side of laughs. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerSep 12, 2018
Filmmaker Erlingsson has an eye for detail, a flair for the absurd – a sousaphone-based trio pops up here and there – and a deft touch with social commentary and political satire. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 1, 2019
Erlingsson has created a winsome knickknack of a movie that manages to reframe the 21st century’s signature crisis in a way that makes room for real heroism. Read full review
80
Little White LiesAimee KnightNov 30, 2021
Big budget superhero flicks are a dime a dozen. Woman at War takes a sidelong glance at what it means to look, sound and act like a fighter – one hellbent on serving the world’s greater good. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeMay 5, 2019
Geirharðsdóttir commands the screen throughout, but she receives significant support from Jóhann Sigurðarson as Sveinbjörn, the gruffly avuncular sheep farmer who lives alone with his dog, Woman. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 1, 2019
Woman at War takes its tone not from von Trier but deadpan pranksters like the Finnish Aki Kaurismaki, whose absurdities have an undercurrent of tragedy. Erlingsson has a magnetic heroine in Geirharðsdóttir, who’s lithe and athletic without being a show off, and underplays as a good soldier would. Read full review
80
Film ThreatLorry KiktaFeb 28, 2019
Woman At War is one of the best films I’ve seen about climate change that isn’t either a documentary or an extremely pedantic horror story. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerMay 18, 2018
There are a few standout scenes in War's closing reels, as well as a few cleverly executed twists, yet Erlingsson doesn't let them undercut the movie's emotional sway. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeMay 18, 2018
Carried by a magnetic performance from Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in a dual role (she plays both Halla and her identical twin sister Asa), Benedikt Erlingsson’s enjoyable follow up to Of Horses And Men is elevated by wryly idiosyncratic flourishes in its execution. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 21, 2019
As Halla/Asa, Geirharðsdóttir never forces a thing. The actress is the honest engine of this sincere, slightly off-kilter fable. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 14, 2019
Because it’s an Icelandic movie, and absurdism seems to bubble up in the hot springs and the bloodstreams, Woman at War exudes a puckish sense of humor even as it deals with dire matters. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekMar 12, 2019
Though the quirk is ladled on a little thick at times, Woman at War is a surprisingly crowd-pleasing film experience considering its subject matter. In style, Erlingsson evokes the playfulness of Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, and it seems impossible to film anything in Iceland without being hypnotized by the landscape. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMar 6, 2019
The movie’s sympathies are with Halla and against the climate-change deniers, but it also sees something slightly ridiculous in her David-and-Goliath actions. What sets the film apart is how it balances both this sense of irony and an abrupt plunge into serious personal matters stemming from a forgotten decision Halla made years ago. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 6, 2019
A movie as intensely subjective as Woman at War had better have an actress deserving of unwavering attention, and Erlingsson has found her in Geirharosdottir, who proves to be supremely at ease with both the physical demands of the film and its trickier internal journeys (not to mention a neat bit of visual legerdemain). Read full review
75
Slant MagazineBen LambertFeb 25, 2019
It balances its various modes so carefully and efficiently that it achieves a graceful unity, if a strange one at that. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 12, 2019
Erlingsson takes a fairly cut-and-dried caper comedy and tosses twist after twist into it, letting Woman at War surprise us just as often as it repeats a running gag (the poor, cursing bicycle-camping Spaniard). Read full review
75
The PlaylistLena WilsonSep 13, 2018
As surely as a hiker extending her arms in the middle of an undulating lava field, Iceland has arrived, with a startling movie that’s every bit as idiosyncratic, homely, and dynamic as its country of origin. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 28, 2019
A marvelously loopy and deeply serious film from Iceland. Read full review
60
EmpireElla KempMay 1, 2019
Asking questions of moral beliefs and societal responsibility, a plausible dilemma is framed like a fairytale. While the storytelling is neat, aesthetic quirks that entertain also remove any potential urgency. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 18, 2018
It is an attractive and sympathetic performance from Geirharðsdóttir as Halla. Read full review
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