76
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 95TheWrapKatie WalshTheWrapKatie WalshIt’s the faces that stand out in Retrograde, a stylistic and thematic motif that offers an empathetic power to the film as well as an aching poignancy.
- 83The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupRetrograde is a powerful reminder that conflict breeds conflict and enacting a plan trying to protect a certain group of people will always leave others neglected.
- 80The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe shrewdly observant film sticks with one Afghan general, Sami Sadat, to tell an emotional story that feels as significant as any analysis of troop numbers.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThere’s not a dull shot in the entire movie, which is remarkable, considering how little actual action Heineman films.
- 80The GuardianLeslie FelperinThe GuardianLeslie FelperinIt seems almost frivolous to note this, but the hyper high-definition cinematography is both beautiful in a savage way and adds immediacy to the viewing experience.
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanRetrograde is a handsome film, ironically, conveying a sense of the country that is at stake, and its people. And Heineman is smart to frame the story around a single individual, as he did in his fact-based drama about war correspondent Marie Colvin, “A Private War.”
- 75IndieWireEmma StefanskyIndieWireEmma StefanskyTo watch terror become desperation become despair is wrenching, more so because this puts names and faces to events the rest of us are fortunate enough to read about while sitting on our couches.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergThe Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergThere’s so much potency in Heineman’s snapshot of sadness, disappointment and resignation, that I frequently and ultimately found myself wishing it could be the full tapestry that a six-part miniseries might have allowed.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleHeineman’s trust in what his camera reveals — in the forlorn faces of U.S. soldiers, in the slump of Sadat’s demeanor, in the distraught eyes of a mother caught in that Kabul airport scrum of the desperate — tells its own necessary story of war wreckage.
- 50The PlaylistCharles BramescoThe PlaylistCharles BramescoHeineman’s thesis that because leaving has gone so poorly, staying would’ve necessarily been better is incorrect at best, and disingenuous at worst. He wants to think structurally, aware that America can and does flatten other nations beneath our clumsy footfalls. He just can’t — or won’t — see the whole structure out of apparent fear that it’ll be too unflattering for all involved, including him, the army’s useful launderer of their image-sanitizing talking points.