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Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 81TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondEverlasting Storm is an anthology film that is as uneven as most anthology films, but one that offers a disquieting and essential snapshot of the time from which we hope we’re emerging. Like the lockdown itself, it can be a slog and it can be a kick.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonConsisting of three non-fiction segments and four narrative instalments, the film is refreshing in its understated modesty. If anything, the shorter running time seems to energise the directors, who tell miniature stories with a minimum of fuss but careful attention to the emotional fallout of life under quarantine.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeHere we have seven escape routes, each one reconnecting us to a world inevitably transformed by the pandemic — a world where art lives on.
- 75The PlaylistCharles BramescoThe PlaylistCharles BramescoThe thread connecting the finest shorts — Panahi, Poitras, and Joe — is adaptation, the willingness to alter form to match the challenge at hand. Those able to refit their already-developed technique to a new set of standards don’t just get the best results. In their undaunted, humble determination to continue, they embody the present zeitgeist with more fidelity than a thousand post-mortems.
- 75Slant MagazineJake ColeSlant MagazineJake ColeThese shorts capture everything from how fear of the unknown can rewire relationships to the natural world exerts its pull on us all.
- 75The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThere are no outright disasters and two superlative shorts, one of which may well turn out to be this year’s single greatest cinematic achievement. Even if the rest are mostly forgettable, that batting average still qualifies as success in this notoriously erratic mini-genre.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungIts bow in Cannes in the Special Screenings sidebar is amply justified by two whimsical exercises in art house cinema directed by Jafar Panahi and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The other tales are quirky but mixed in impact.
- 67The Film StageLuke HicksThe Film StageLuke HicksIf The Year of the Everlasting Storm isn’t exempt from the typical disjointedness of portmanteau films, it yields more coherency than its kin. With so many disparate works included, the experience becomes an intriguing exercise in cinematographic range and creative perspectives on the most globally unifying trauma in human history.
- 63Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyPoitras includes screenshots, Zoom sessions, surveillance footage, even voice mails. The overall effect is both hypnotic and deeply unsettling, like watching a real-life William Gibson novel.
- 40The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe omnibus film The Year of the Everlasting Storm assembles pandemic-made shorts from around the globe. But with just two decent segments out of seven, this anthology uncannily replicates the sensation of feeling trapped.