50
Unfortunately, the second half of Firebird is far less involving than the first.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein
Director Peeter Rebane and his co-writer (and star), Tom Prior (they also produced), have created a compelling, tender, tragic, occasionally melodramatic look at forbidden love and desire.
67
Prior and Zagorodnii are both so watchable, and their chemistry so electric, that it’s easy to get swept away in their romance. Historical accuracy be damned.
50
Prior and Zagorodnii have a fair amount of chemistry, although both are so Fashion Week gorgeous that it edges Firebird near soft-core territory.
75
This film is a bittersweet love story about characters burdened by oppression, but the theme of liberation is as palpable as the sense of loss.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden
There’s so much potential heart and heartbreak in Firebird’s tale of forbidden passion that the screenplay and the cautious pacing become frustrating; with every ache measured and spelled out, the film’s dogged striving for poetry too often leaves it feeling disappointingly prosaic.
40
The New York Times by Teo Bugbee
Each line and image feels predetermined, as if Rebane and his characters had already decided this love story was a losing battle. There is loss, but little sense of risk.