Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The film's ending is improbably upbeat: Magic realism, in a sense. It works as a deliverance. Dennis Foon's screenplay is based on the novel "Chanda's Secrets" by Canadian writer Allan Stratton. It is a parable with Biblical undertones, recalling "Cry, the Beloved Country."

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

A grave and quietly moving story about a South African girl of extraordinary character, does something that few painful dramas accomplish: It tells a tale of resilience without platitudes about the triumph of the human spirit or without false promises about an unclouded future.

Time by Mary Pols

The director and his splendid cast assure that this tale about a strong little girl fighting to keep her family alive and together has both high art and a big heart, audience appeal and gut impact.

Empire by Anna Smith

A tough but very rewarding watch.

Chicago Reader by J.R. Jones

Director Oliver Schmitz is particularly attentive to the superstition and ingrained sexism that make life miserable for these people, though he also seems to view women as the country's best hope.

Arizona Republic by Randy Cordova

Perseverance is the theme of Life, Above All, a drama that is deeply affecting, if also overwhelmingly bleak.

Austin Chronicle by Kimberley Jones

In its third act, Life, Above All takes a bit of a dip into la-la land, in terms of believability – how precisely is an impoverished family supposed to have afforded an ambulance and hospice care? – but that doesn't diminish the emotional impact of Manyaka's performance and the idea that courage can be infectious, too.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams

In such a bleak story, the redemptive ending seems rushed and unconvincing, but director Oliver Schmitz has sent us a timely dispatch from a forgotten corner of the world that is honest above all.

Boston Globe by Ty Burr

To a Western audience, the movie may at times feel pat, cooked up, wishful beyond realistic measure. But we're not the ones who need to see it.

San Francisco Chronicle by Amy Biancolli

What matters most in this sad, sobering movie is not what anyone says; it's what goes unsaid for most of the running time.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

This is a modest film, and an affecting one.

Variety by Justin Chang

It's an absorbing, vividly inhabited tale nonetheless, never exploiting its horrors but rather treating them as tough local realities.

The A.V. Club

The ending, which offers a hint of relief, is unfiltered, frankly unbelievable melodrama, but something grimmer and more measured would be intolerable after everything that comes before.

Movieline by Michelle Orange

The scenes between the young actresses are the film's most compelling: Both first-timers, Manamela and Makanyane are possessed of extraordinary faces and plain attitudes.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

The sincere director, Oliver Schmitz, injects too much movie into his movie; life (above all) would have been enough.

The Hollywood Reporter by Natasha Senjanovic

Its schematic structure oversimplifies the drama, despite an interesting, mostly debut cast. It seems better suited for the small screen.

Village Voice by Melissa Anderson

Life, Above All suggests that ignorance and stigmatization are a problem only in the village, not in the highest office of government.