84
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumTrier's compassion for what it takes to survive, mixed with the love he bestows on Oslo, is rewardingly profound.
- 88Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe evocation of things ending suffuses the film with melancholy, as Anders increasingly becomes an observant rather than a participant in his own life.
- 83The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasTrier doesn't allow the bleakness of the material to swamp the film in a miserablist tone, but he doesn't hold back, either, in revealing every hairline crack in Lie's fragile psyche.
- 80EmpireDamon WiseEmpireDamon WiseTalented Norwegian Joachim Trier - distant cousin to the better-known (and Danish) Lars - delivers a wonderful, melancholy character piece that's funny and tender, and as fresh as a breath of Oslo sea air.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinCrosses the blood-brain barrier like … like … whatever the drug is, I haven't tried it, thank God. The movie eats into your mind - slowly.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawAn intelligent and resonant work from Norwegian director Joachim Trier, a movie that yields up its meanings and implications slowly.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfOrganizing the mercurial emotions and tics is director Joachim Trier, making good on the promise of his 2006 feature debut, the lit-related drama Reprise. This one's even better-it's about the honesty that often takes root in survivors, a rarely explored subject-but Oslo, August 31st is not an easy film.
- 80Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonMatching the precision of the film's title, remembrances of things past-whether destructive or salutary, quickly mentioned or dilated upon-are shaped by just enough exacting detail.
- 80New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanTrier's voice and vision, are thrillingly unique. His ever-searching camera, which never stops moving, takes us into places we've never been, know too well and won't soon forget.
- Anders Danielsen Lie gives a compelling, deep-etched lead turn, and you'll find yourself drawn in as he searches for a reason to continue living.