80
Makala examines the tribulations of desolation and solitude with such respect that it’s impossible not to feel compassion.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
To ponder the colonial implications of a French director exoticizing a Congolese man whose family eats rats for meals is to realize that a movie can be heartwarming and heartless at once.
60
The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij
The film was shot chronologically and this is clear in the increasing fluidity of Gras’ camerawork, which is less and less searching the closer they get to the city.
75
Emmanuel Gras resists pitying or sentimentalizing his main subject, or exalting him merely for his resilience in the face of such a harsh, uncaring reality.
67
There’s a fine line between watching someone toil and feeling as though you’re toiling yourself, of course, and “Makala” doesn’t always land on the right side of it. It can be edifying at times to watch this, as the film is clearly a labor of love — even if the actual work depicted is not.
60
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It is a sad and lonely world, sympathetically captured, beautifully photographed.
70
Screen International by Sarah Ward
Makala takes the observational approach to the hardships of Congolese life, charting a tough but insightful journey.
60
The Observer (UK) by Simran Hans
This immersive, slow-burning documentary about a Congolese charcoal maker finds poetry in the punishing, monotonous graft of one man’s trade.
88
Paste Magazine by Tim Grierson
The documentary’s so simple it feels profound without ever really trying.