90
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
As with "Together," Moodysson has pulled off a staggering dramatic coup, and again we are forced to ask: How does he do it? [21 & 28 April 2003, p.194]
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
This grim Danish-Swedish production is socially revealing and artistically creative, both coldly realistic and infused with compassion for its heroine and her youth culture.
90
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Lilya's struggle to make a life for herself is both heartbreaking and heart-stirring.
63
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
a despairing movie that you can't look away from, though you'll wish you could.
100
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Light entertainment, this is not. Unforgettable and challenging cinema, it is.
75
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The movie, written and directed by Lukas Moodysson, has the directness and clarity of a documentary, but allows itself touches of tenderness and grief.
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
It's almost too devastating for words, yet never less than compelling and heartbreakingly affecting.
90
The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann
It is Akinshina's presence and performance that make the pedestrian story heart-wrenching. She is pretty, responsive, reflective. Without the slightest strain, she convinces us of the beauty and pathos and hope within Lilya.
75
Doesn't derive its power from the turning wheels of plot suspense but from the simple act of looking and not blinking.
88
Lilya is portrayed by Oksana Akinshina, who gives a dynamic, heartbreaking performance... She was wonderful in ["Brothers"], but is even more astonishing in Lilya 4-Ever.