Plemya 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: An utter astonishment. Read more

Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: Story-wise, "The Tribe" is yet another art-film wallow in cruelty, not nearly as unique as its looks and its world. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Actions, emotions and desperate impulses speak far louder than words in The Tribe, a formally audacious coup de cinema that marks a stunning writing-directing debut for Ukrainian filmmaker Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: The Tribe is a singular, fascinating experiment, but that's about all it is. It gives gimmicks a good name, without ever transcending its own. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: It's got a story every bit as bold and fearless as its approach - the kind of primal story that's beyond the ken of language. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If "The Tribe" were set in the hearing world, its desolation would seem reductive and forced, a pose rather than a statement. Without words, the movie becomes a nihilistic fable and, indeed, something unheard of until now. It's silent opera. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The Tribe is a brilliant formal achievement that marks Ukrainian writer-director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky as a filmmaker to watch. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: An audacious and successful gamble from a first-time feature filmmaker who is now officially on his way. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Slaboshpytskiy doesn't attempt to get inside the psychology of these people, or expand the meanings, political or otherwise, of their descent. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: There is nothing else like The Tribe, at once a searing, singular vision of a particular time and place and a brutal metaphor for the wounded human condition. Read more

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: As an amazing piece of pure cinema, The Tribe needs to be experienced. And talked about. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter: The use of sign language, deafness and silence itself adds several heady new ingredients to the base material, alchemically creating something rich, strange and very original. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: One need not read it as a metaphor for the director's homeland to appreciate the movie as a tour de force. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: So vigorous are those signs, and so unmistakably sore is the inflammation of feeling behind them, that, far from being shut out, we are pulled all too fiercely into the drama's heart. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: By the end, The Tribe has revealed itself as so original, and so chilling, it's likely to leave you speechless. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It's something of a formal tour de force, a triumphant overcoming of self-imposed cinematic challenges. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A stunning examination of teenage cruelty, exploitation, and crime that refuses to give us the satisfaction of identifying with the characters. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: A startlingly original, at times unbearably intense drama from Ukraine that - on a moment-to-moment, scene-by-scene basis - blows up expectations on every level: narratively, visually and in terms of performance. Read more

David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle: This is a challenging film that's not for everyone. Yet there's no denying its brilliant concept and its raw cinematic power. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This striking film is a revealing document of a time. It is deadly quiet, yet what it says will stay with you for days. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Based on Slaboshpytskiy's experience as a crime reporter and on stories of Ukraine's "deaf Mafia," it's less a social portrait than an experiment in shaking up the balance of our senses: A tale of no sound, just fury. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Overlong and not always successful in its storytelling, Slaboshpitsky consistently returns to sex and violence to shore up a weak plot about a guy who falls for the wrong girl. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Beyond the film-stealing, hypnotic use of sign-language, what we get is a bleak vision of a society gone to pot. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: It's a staggering film, but not a brilliant one - a superior version would have played more with the gulf between our senses and theirs. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: It toys with our pity, then it toys with our outrage, then it toys with our identification. Before we know it, we've been sucked into its wicked, all-too-human drama. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Slaboshpitsky frames his problematic protagonists with painterly meticulousness, their feral posturing and nakedness conveyed with improbable beauty. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Any expectations of conventional enjoyment must be checked at the door. Nevertheless, the film stands as a singular achievement. Read more

Will Leitch, The New Republic: The movie features no music, and no words, yet some moments are so powerful and visceral that I still caught myself covering my ears. Read more