81
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnWith its intimate focus, Menashe avoids indicting the strict logic that stifles its anti-hero’s individuality (though secular viewers can reach their own conclusions). Instead, it succeeds at showing how his challenges are more universal than judgmental viewers might think.
- 88TheWrapClaudia PuigTheWrapClaudia PuigMenashe is a warm, relatable and tender tale about parental love, religion and belonging, told humanely and with vivid authenticity.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayMenashe Lustig brings warmth and a lumpen charisma to Menashe’s lead role, giving life to a film based in part on his own experiences.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattEntertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattThe film (shot mostly in Yiddish) has an unpolished intimacy, peeling back the surface exoticism of a cloistered faith to reveal the poignantly ordinary struggle of being an imperfect person in the world.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJoshua Z. Weinstein's charming Menashe immerses us in an authentic environment of ultra-Orthodox Judaism and makes it relatable by weaving a sweet story familiar in its general contours, of a single father struggling to hold on to the son he loves.
- 80Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyIn a bittersweet film like this, you wouldn’t call that magical, but you could call it real, as if the Dardennes came to Brooklyn, only funnier. That mood succeeds thanks to understated performances by Weinstein’s cast of mostly non-professionals, who seem to be working according to a life-script that they know well.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThough the fate of his journey isn’t terribly well communicated, it’s a privilege to have observed Menashe’s world from the inside.
- 75The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupMenashe works as both a rare introduction to a way of life largely unseen (or exaggerated by those outside of it) as well as a touching depiction of fighting for what’s most important in life.
- 75Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaSlant MagazineKenji FujishimaStriking throughout are the seemingly caught-on-the-wing moments that subtly enrichen the film’s characterizations.