88
RogerEbert.com by Carlos Aguilar
To its mild detriment, Beginning stays on a cerebral plane even at its most ravaging and emotionally intense. But in its muted havoc lies a potent intellectual laceration.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
CineVue by Christopher Machell
As a purely aesthetic cinematic experience, Beginning will surely number among the best of the year.
83
In Beginning, the borders of the frame aren’t just the iron bars of a jail cell, they’re also the garden walls of Eden, the tempting hiss of the snake, and the angel of the lord who interrupted Abraham from killing his son.
75
The low-key, serene natural beauty of Beginning’s setting provides a counterpoint to the often-disturbing events of the film.
100
The New York Times by Devika Girish
Rarely has a film made me so painfully, viscerally aware of the impotence of spectatorship — of the dubious remove from which we watch suffering.
100
Beginning is not a derivative work. Its slow-cinema trappings aren’t merely plucked from the films that have taught its maker along the way, but prove a rhythmically apt, intuitive way into the headspace of its protagonist, a woman who feels her very life has been put on pause.
100
Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang
There is cruelty here but also tenderness, and hellish images that are followed by glimpses of a terrestrial paradise.
67
Whether this challenging film is more than the sum of its formally inventive parts will depend on a viewer’s patience, as well as their tolerance for ambiguity and discomfort.
40
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Kulumbegashvili’s style is confident, if derivative. Her technique now has to evolve away from these self-conscious influences.
80
The Observer (UK) by Simran Hans
Sukhitashvili’s subtle performance brings interiority to a character who might otherwise be defined entirely by her suffering.