100
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Mr. Fan's documentary is informed by a melancholy humanism, and finds unexpected beauty in almost unbearably harsh circumstances. It tells the story of a family caught, and possibly crushed, between the past and the future - a story that, on its own, is moving, even heartbreaking. Multiplied by 130 million, it becomes a terrifying and sobering panorama of the present.
100
Time Out by David Fear
The attention to visuals is above and beyond what most vérité is capable of; doing double duty as the film's cinematographer, Fan demonstrates a pitch-perfect photojournalistic eye.
70
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
Everything is edged with desperation. However arduous Last Train Home may have been to shoot, it was infinitely more arduous to live.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by James Adams
It's an intense and tense time, unsurprisingly, and superbly realized by Lixin's unflinching yet compassionate eye, the Zhang family his microcosm for the Chinese macrocosm.
85
NPR by Jeannette Catsoulis
Frequently moving and quietly enlightening, Last Train Home is about love and exploitation, sacrifice and endurance.
70
Variety by Leslie Felperin
The picture laudably adopts an intimate, personal approach to a subject -- hardworking Chinese garment workers -- that's been covered in more hectoring fashion elsewhere.
100
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
This is essential viewing for understanding our world.
83
The A.V. Club by Noel Murray
Sometimes the story is so much like a fiction feature-complete with explosive family arguments and pointed cross-cutting between the free-spirited Qin and her beaten-down folks-that it feels exploitative, as though Lixin were turning real people into characters.
80
Boxoffice Magazine by Steve Ramos
Fan finds the delicate balance between broad socio-political themes and a single family torn between centuries-old traditions and the desire to succeed in the capitalist world.
75
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
A startling look at the devastating human cost of China's newfound embrace of capitalism.