74
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Screen DailyJonathan RomneyScreen DailyJonathan RomneyGagarine’s increasingly wayward trajectory demands of its audience not just a leap of faith but a vault into the stratosphere, and its tone of naïve romanticism could rankle with more jaded viewers. Still, conviction and chutzpah, plus often dazzling execution, will chime with younger adult audiences.
- 80Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenIf the ending is signposted, Youri’s earthbound journey to the stars offers a stirring escape from an unjust reality. Like his Russian sorta-namesake, he’s a hero we can all get behind.
- 80The Irish TimesTara BradyThe Irish TimesTara BradyJust as Youri fashions outsider art – or survivalist dreams – from his doomed banlieue, Liatard and Trouilh craft an imaginative debut feature from the rubble.
- 80Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleIn its imaginative depiction of how marginalized souls view home — especially youth, for whom belonging and the future can be fraught concepts — Gagarine bears witness to not only a historic building, but the hearts of people, which is what brings a place alive, anyway.
- 75Washington PostPat PaduaWashington PostPat PaduaThe filmmakers make just as much magic on the ground as some do in space.
- 70Film ThreatAlex SavelievFilm ThreatAlex SavelievLike its Russian hero, it aims for the stars and at times reaches exhilarating moments of weightlessness.
- 63Slant MagazineWes GreeneSlant MagazineWes GreeneThe film is at its most effective and engaging when simply capturing the vibrancy of a world onto its own.
- 60The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaThe New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaGagarine is more interesting conceptually than it is in execution, but at least the filmmakers know to exalt the setting’s spectral qualities, adding dreamy, hypnotic touches to their phantom portrait of a place that is no longer of this world.