75
As much as May in the Summer is a comedy — May and her mischievous sisters may remind you of The Three Stooges — it is also an intimate and demystifying look at life in Amman, where the movie was actually filmed.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
60
May in the Summer's biggest obstacle is Dabis, who isn't a strong enough actress to sell the subtle humor.
60
The New York Times by Ben Kenigsberg
The hand-wringing and revelations are familiar from many wedding movies, but May in the Summer gains added potency from its cross-cultural tensions and the drama the characters face in reconciling tradition with modern life.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
While there’s much to enjoy here – particularly in the touching performance of Hiam Abbass – there’s also plenty that is cliched and forced.
50
This warmly conceived but largely formulaic picture is by turns sensitive and shrill, culturally perceptive and overly broad in its dysfunctional-family melodramatics.
67
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
As is, it's a pleasant but unremarkable retelling of a story as old as the Dead Sea itself.
50
May In The Summer just never distinguishes itself in any way that isn’t superficial.
63
Cherien Dabis is least successful at connecting her character May's marital crisis to the rumblings of her repressed heritage.
70
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
There's goodwill to go around in Dabis' modestly engaging yarn, from its appealing performances to the times it zeroes in on the ways culture, tradition and individuality cause headaches and heartaches as much as comfort.
63
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
The setting and various religious rifts are unfamiliar, if the domestic/romantic melodrama isn’t.