Family Portrait in Black and White

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

Julia Ivanova, a Canadian filmmaker, doesn't judge Olga; she refuses to see her through the eyes of a presumably better-off first-world citizen.

Village Voice by Ernest Hardy

The film's emotional and psychological textures suffer for those losses, but Family is still riveting viewing.

The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger

Leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which is frustrating, but it gets high marks for honesty.

Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

It's a fascinating story, fascinatingly told.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

There's no organizing principle in Ivanova's documentary, which unfolds in a ragged, seat-of-the-pants style that mirrors its subject's day-to-day life all too closely. Nenya's flock proves too big for the film to wrangle.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Stephen Cole

Though only 85 minutes, the film captures an entire, bewilderingly extended family and way of life inside a sturdy frame.