Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea

As in David Lean's "Brief Encounter," the suspense in Cairo Time comes from what doesn't happen between its pair of "lovers."

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

Think "In the Mood for Love" with hookahs instead of chopsticks.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

Ms. Clarkson's performance as Juliette, the fashion-writer wife of a United Nations functionary, is the film's reason for being. She makes yearning palpable. She turns mysterious silences into a language of love.

Movieline by Stephanie Zacharek

Like so many movie love stories before it - from Murnau's "Sunrise" to Linklater's "Before Sunrise," and beyond - Cairo Time is about two wandering lovers, people spending time together without realizing how precious that time will come to be.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

It's a haunting and hypnotic film.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

Cairo Time is affectingly gentle, with Juliette slowing down to open up -- a gossamer transformation that Clarkson makes tangible.

Observer by Rex Reed

What emerges is time pleasantly spent with a slice of life that examines a romantic détente between two cultures. Like smoke from an Egyptian hookah, the melancholia lingers.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Cairo Time is a valentine to Egypt.

Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

You may find, as I did, that the lovely twilit moments in this movie stay with one, and that summoning them up in your mind is like slowing down time.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Lewis

The melancholic, beautiful Cairo Time confirms two things that hardly need confirming: The Egyptian capital is a breathtaking metropolis, and Patricia Clarkson is one of the best actors in the world.

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

It's a postcard-lovely movie that, in spite of its best intentions, ends up feeling a little touristy.

Time Out

For a movie defined by its restraint, this travelogue is remarkably physical; as a valentine to the rueful desire of grown-ups acquainted with both joy and disappointment, the film is a true rarity.

Village Voice

Happily, writer-director Ruba Nadda's emphasis on body language ultimately trumps the clumsiness of her script.

The Hollywood Reporter

Aside from the sweltering Egyptian climate, little heat or excitement is generated by the film or its attractive stars.

Variety

The fourth feature from Canadian writer-helmer Ruba Nadda ("Sabah") has a slightly breathless, old-fashioned feel, calling to mind the cliched fiction found in the type of ladies' magazine the heroine edits.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey

One disappointment here is that Patricia Clarkson, the queen of indie film, is missing much of her usual spark. Her performance may be aiming for sensual, but too often it comes across more as listless.