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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: It would be difficult to undertake a more politically relevant film or explore a more volatile subject, and Abu-Assad attempts his project with skill and sensitivity. Read more
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Paradise catches and keeps your attention because of its daring subject, real-life backdrops and the intensity of its actors. Read more
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: I felt that I was no closer to understanding the psychology of suicide bombers than I had been before. Read more
John Hartl, Seattle Times: Asks the big questions and answers quite a few of them, although its ending is tantalizingly ambiguous. Read more
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: The film captures the bleakness of the West Bank and, more powerfully, shows us lives so grim that the thought of paradise now seems enticing. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Very good. Read more
Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The movie is driven by the characters' passionate, despairing arguments about the fine line between victimization and violence. But Paradise Now also has, at times, an almost surreal visual flair. Read more
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: At heart, it's still a simple, personal story about a conflicted young man surrounded by opinions and pressures, trying to decide what he really thinks and wants. Read more
Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: A risk-taking but enlightening film that takes the novel approach of examining the Israeli-Arab impasse from the perspective of the Palestinians. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: It's too simply reasoned and too tidily made to shake you up. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A powerful, poignant, provocative drama, it gets its strength from its dispassion, from an uncompromising determination to explain rather than justify or condemn, to put a human face on incomprehensible acts. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: He attempts with mixed results to get inside the psyches of men who would blow themselves up for the cause. Read more
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: [A] sensitive, occasionally didactic film. Read more
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Riveting and timely. Read more
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Troubling but excellent. Read more
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Paradise Now is an agonized inquiry into the minds of a dispossessed new generation of Palestinians, who come off more introspective and internally divided than you'd think. Read more
Gene Seymour, Newsday: It is in no way an apologia for terrorism. But it's a character study that subtly nudges the viewer toward greater understanding. Read more
Ken Tucker, New York Magazine/Vulture: ... remarkable ... Read more
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Hany Abu-Assad's stark, minimalist portrait of two young Palestinian men preparing for a suicide-bombing mission in Tel Aviv is the kind of movie that takes away both your breath and your ability to get out of your seat. Read more
Stephen Holden, New York Times: This taut, ingeniously calculated thriller fixates on the flashpoint where psychology and politics ignite in self-destructive martyrdom. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: ... it says more about Middle Eastern politics from the Palestinian side than any movie, period. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The film offers food for thought, and reminds us that, in any war, one who understands the mindset of his opponent gains an important tactical advantage. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Certainly what Said says will not come as a surprise to any Israeli. It's simply that they disagree. We may disagree, too, and yet watch the film with a fearsome fascination. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What makes the film more than a routine thriller is its willingness to explore what makes these walking time bombs tick. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The director's two impulses -- to keep the audience hooked while illuminating the Palestinian plight -- never feel entirely compatible. Read more
Susan Walker, Toronto Star: Viewers of all persuasions can find a human perspective on an aspect of terrorism that, no matter how often it occurs, is beyond imagining for most of us. Read more
Derek Elley, Variety: [It] lays out the issues in an accessible but rather too over-correct way, seemingly eager to please all parties at the expense of real passion. Read more
J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Paradise Now may not succeed in inspiring sympathy for these hapless terrorists, but it does compel an appreciation for the unbearable sense of humiliation that may fuel such acts. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Paradise may not change anyone's ideology, but it should convince some that, but for some deeply divisive views of religious morality, people are pretty much the same on either side of the holy fence. Read more