Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Everything about this subtly directed drama enhances its pathos and humor, especially an astonishing performance by Gorintin, a 90-something woman only a few years into her acting career.

The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann

The last minutes of the film are exhilarating, but its real triumph is in everything that precedes the ending--the relatively simple lives of the three women up to that point.

Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea

At turns funny, sweet, sad, trenchant and telling. It's a gem.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

Superb family drama.

L.A. Weekly by Ella Taylor

The kind of small film -- morally ambiguous, graceful in its admission of imperfect knowledge, at once specific and universal -- that expands our understanding of the emotional economy of family life, with its ebb and flow of love and hostility, secrecy and egregious candor. You must see this film.

Village Voice by Michael Atkinson

If Otar is, finally, a mite thin and predictably structured, that takes little away from the filmmaker and her cast, who work hard at fashioning the most outlandish special effect of all: believable human life.

Variety by David Stratton

The film is traditionally and effectively made; it also is superbly acted.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

Sustains a perfect balance of pathos, humor and a clear-headed realism. One tiny misstep, and it could have tumbled into an abyss of tears.

Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan

A small film of surpassing beauty and sadness. Yet its bittersweet flavor isn't artificial, but rather the product of the slow ripening of character.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Working with excellent site-specific music and this trio of exemplary -- and exceptionally well-cast -- actresses, director Bertuccelli does a superb job of touching just the right emotional notes in recounting the consequences of deception and the importance of family.

The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck

Almost unbearably moving at times, Julie Betuccelli's simple but sublime debut feature presents a portrait of maternal love and female fortitude that will reduce the stoniest of viewers to tears.

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

This sensitive drama will appeal to anyone who has strained against the confines of family - or basked happily in its comforts.

New York Post by Lou Lumenick

The best actress currently on New York screens is Esther Gorintin, a 90-year-old Pole who provides the emotional center for Julie Bertucelli's delicate, bittersweet comedy-drama, Since Otar Left, which is set in Paris and Tbilisi.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Bertuccelli's heartfelt film affords a unique peek into the hearts and minds of a generation who, after having been awakened from the lie they'd been living all their lives, must now face the aftermath of an entire nation's failure.