RogerEbert.com

Indian filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane’s first feature is a masterpiece, one of the best films of the year.

Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl

The film is richly detailed, and its acting seems almost invisible — the performers just seem to be these people. Court is one of the strongest debut features in years.

Variety by Jay Weissberg

Managing to be both extremely rational and extremely humane, the film works so well thanks to an intelligent, superbly understated script and a feel for naturalism that extends beyond mere performance.

The Playlist

Court acquires its power through its thoughtful depiction of the mundane and the ordinary.

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

For the most part, Tamhane improbably succeeds in creating a damning courtroom drama that derives much of its power from observing the cogs in the machinery when the machine is switched off.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

[A] quiet, devastating critique of the antiquated Indian legal system.

The Hollywood Reporter by Neil Young

While this near two-hour feature debut does betray occasional signs of inexperience, on the whole it's a work of striking confidence.

CineVue by John Bleasdale

Although Tamhane's film recalls Franz Kafka in its nightmarish vision of inhumane bureaucracy, Court is neither faceless nor surreal. Rather, the absurdity and numbness are all too human and as such even more frightening.

New York Post by Farran Smith Nehme

Tamhane’s quiet techniques build to pure, cold fury.

Slant Magazine by Kenji Fujishima

Chaitanya Tamhane's grand canvas is Indian society as represented by its legal system, and what it reveals is none too flattering.