51
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIt falls into the trappings of middlebrow literary adaptation by finding only sporadic means to convincingly adjudicate the trauma and anguish of its transitory epoch.
- 63Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardIt falls into the trappings of middlebrow literary adaptation by finding only sporadic means to convincingly adjudicate the trauma and anguish of its transitory epoch.
- 60Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonTime Out LondonTrevor JohnstonHalf of a Yellow Sun bravely takes on too broad a canvas with too narrow a budget, but it’s a relevant saga that’s worth telling.
- 60Total FilmTotal FilmBandele’s keen handling of cast and domestic conflict makes for a nuanced historical epic, but he’s less sure on the big stuff.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinHalf of a Yellow Sun is the kind of ambitious literary adaptation that wants it all kinds of ways, not all of them compatible.
- 60The TelegraphMike McCahillThe TelegraphMike McCahillOnly a film as big as Africa could have done Adichie’s novel full justice; the treatment it gets here, equally honourable and hurried, reduces it to Nigerian soap with BAFTA-level acting.
- 40EmpireDavid HughesEmpireDavid HughesNewcomers will be puzzled by the clumsy contextualisation and muddled motivation of characters who, robbed of their inner lives by a clunky script, are left floundering amid the melodrama and speak-the-plot dialogue.
- 40CineVueBen NicholsonCineVueBen NicholsonAn uneven blend of melodrama and the horrors of civil war, it should be anchored by strong leads but instead remains listless and adrift.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter Bradshawthe film is often stately and sluggish with some very daytime-soapy moments of emotional revelation.