75
The foreclosure of possibilities provided by the use of the long take assists in the indictment of chauvinism and patriarchal brutality that underpin, directly and indirectly, many moments in the film.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
The two lead performances — Lika Babluani as Eka and Mariam Bokeria as Natia — are direct and unaffected, but also enigmatic in the way that nonprofessional screen acting can be in the hands of a sensitive director.
50
It’s appropriately weighty and filled with loss-of-innocence undertones and some fun cultural detours, yet the film’s odd flatness makes it hard to invest in.
70
New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri
In Bloom feels, more than anything else, like a war movie.
80
This is a film for which the landscape, both social and material, is paramount.
63
New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme
In terms of its outlook for young girls in Georgia, the movie title might as well be “Buried Alive.”
60
A cute suitor shows up at Natia’s side with the gift of a pistol (for her protection, he insists), and you wait in vain for it to go off. Rather, the fireworks come in last-act shouting bouts, sincere if slightly disappointing.
83
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
Keenly observed, geographically specific portraits of adolescence are always welcome, but there’s definitely something to be said for charging the genre’s usual tender lyricism with an ever-present threat of life-altering violence.
75
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
It’s a universal story that is also, by virtue of its very particular time and place, a singular experience.