60
Time Out London by Cath Clarke
It’s a nail-biting story, but this doc isn’t as gripping as it should be.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
The New York Times by Daniel M. Gold
I was just at the right place at the right time,” Mr. Petrov says, a simple truth that becomes shocking when considering the alternative. For that alone, this account of a Cold War near miss deserves a wide audience.
70
The emotional and narrative core of the story is how much tragedy swirls through Petrov's personal life — from his parents pushing him into the military at the age of seventeen to his marriage to the unraveling of his circumstances after his heroic decision. It is heart-wrenching stuff that you might wish the filmmakers had trusted more.
60
The Guardian by Leslie Felperin
Sergey Shnyryov is superb as Petrov’s fictional counterpart, and the present and the past are smoothly sutured together by deft editing and an insistently mournful string score, although it’s sometimes a bit repetitive.
30
Los Angeles Times by Martin Tsai
The film is a disingenuous, thoroughly dramatized reenactment at best and a reality show at worst.
40
A gripping and unheralded story that doesn't quite get the telling it deserves.