71
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperWe believe every frame of this performance, whether Harry is an emaciated figure in the ring in the concentration camp, a formidable opponent as a pro fighter in America or an older man who seems to have found some measure of peace in his life, though the horrific memories will never die.
- 83The PlaylistJason BaileyThe PlaylistJason BaileyThe Survivor is occasionally infected by the aridness of the handsome, well-made historical film — it feels old-fashioned, in both the complimentary and pejorative senses. But some of that is purposeful and even a little subversive.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeBen Foster goes through more than one striking transformation here, changing body and soul while neither shying away from nor overdramatizing the uglier aspects of the man’s life.
- 80VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe Survivor is a Holocaust movie that’s fresh enough to make you laugh between the tears, the gasps of terror, the long road out of the inferno.
- 75TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondThe Survivor needs to be an unpleasant movie to watch, because you don’t want to simply use Nazi atrocities to advance the plot. So Levinson doles them out, makes them shock and then ties them into the postwar Haft standing in a ring and enduring merciless beatings.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerIt’s a long film, and the payoff might not be enough for some. But as a moody story about moral dilemmas and moving beyond the past, The Survivor outlasts its 129 minutes.
- 70Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThere’s no shortage of familiar elements here, and yet one can’t deny the empathy Levinson brings to the material.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe Survivor wins on points, a decent and honourably intended picture about one man’s ordeal in the horror of the Holocaust and the heartbreak that came afterwards.
- 50IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichFoster’s performance is ultimately the only thing that holds The Survivor together across its three parallel timelines.
- 50The Film StageMichael FrankThe Film StageMichael FrankLevinson captures a difficulty that’s unknown for anyone other than those who lived through the atrocities of concentration camps. He allows cruelty to hiss off the screen but adds little more than the pain.