73
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpIt’s a remarkable picture of inbound focus and outbound ambitions.
- 83The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyKarl Marx City is at heart a psychological family drama—the story of a tightly knit household that outlived an oppressive society, only to find itself faced with a doubt about the past that amounts to an existential quandary.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichIn its haphazard search for facts, it happens upon a great many truths about how we see each other, and the price we pay for looking too closely.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonA key joy of Karl Marx City is its strong, arty aesthetic.
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottKarl Marx City, Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein’s unsettling new documentary, is a smart, highly personal addition to the growing syllabus of distressingly relevant cautionary political tales.
- 80Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangShot in evocative black and white, Karl Marx City is a sleek, absorbing detective story, a fascinating primer on mass surveillance in the pre-Snowden era, and a roving memoir of East German life.
- 75Slant MagazineJake ColeSlant MagazineJake ColePetra Epperlein's personal ties to the subject matter provides the documentary with a necessary anchor point.
- 70VarietyScott TobiasVarietyScott TobiasEpperlein offers Karl Marx City as her own act of painful transparency, an essential warning about what happens to societies when ordinary citizens are being watched.
- 50Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonAs too often happens in nonfiction movies, their exploration of these concepts is undermined by ill-considered execution.
- 42The Film StageThe Film StageOscillating between personal documentary and a scattered historical record, Karl Marx City leaves dramatic tension and narrative threads by the wayside in favor of casting wide thematic webs.