58
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyIt’s the psychological duel between the terrific Isaac and Kingsley as captor and prisoner that delivers the film’s most charged jolts of electricity.
- 75UproxxVince ManciniUproxxVince ManciniFor the most part, Operation Finale is a good story, well told. Yet something about it isn’t entirely satisfying either. It deftly eschews the most simplistic takes, but what it offers in return — the banality of evil, essentially — isn’t quite groundbreaking either. Still, it’s more than worth it to watch Ben Kingsley and Oscar Isaac spar for a bit.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreYou don’t expect a movie about The Holocaust to be flippant, glib almost.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeIsaac and Kingsley bring quite a bit to Orton's dialogue, sometimes seeming to mean it at face value and sometimes inviting skepticism.
- 60TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanTheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanIt’s a shame the filmmakers felt constrained by the import of their subject matter, rather than inspired to take some artistic risks. But even when the storytelling falters, the story itself — not merely extraordinary, but eternally relevant — remains paramount.
- 60VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe last thing you want a movie like this one to feel like is a slick Hollywood suspense drama with famous historical names plugged in. Operation Finale doesn’t feel like that, yet taken on its own here’s how it really happened terms, the movie is at once plausible and sketchy, intriguing and not fully satisfying.
- 58IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichWeitz and Orton mean to question the individual’s role in a mass atrocity, but the abstract nature of their ideas never squares with the rigidity of their storytelling. As a result, Operation Finale doesn’t feel ambiguous so much as it feels like it lacks a point of view.
- 50Slant MagazineMarshall ShafferSlant MagazineMarshall ShafferThe film never manages to reconcile the enormity of the Holocaust with how ordinary a bureaucrat Eichmann was.
- 50The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloOperation Finale means to embody the banality of evil, but it’s mostly mired in plain old banality.
- 40The GuardianCharles BramescoThe GuardianCharles BramescoThe debate over the utility of violence and the dignity owed prisoners of war has raged since time immemorial, and recent developments have only amplified the decibel level. Operation Finale zeroes in on these complex dynamics, only to erase their nuance.