90
Village Voice by Alan Scherstuhl
The Attack is most avowedly "about" terrorism. But that's a subject, not the subject. The film, an arresting and upsetting one, is also about love, trauma, and trust, both within one particular marriage and within entire cultures.
60
Time Out by David Fear
Imagine a male Lifetime movie fueled by Middle Eastern tensions, and you’d have Ziad Doueiri’s torn-from-Tel-Aviv’s-headlines melodrama, one which drops its handsome husband of a hero into a domestic nightmare.
91
The Playlist by Jessica Kiang
On both a political and a personal level, the film is pessimistic, yes, but it feels truthful, and never lapses into easy cynicism.
60
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
A gripping, personal examination of a seemingly unresolvable conflict.
80
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
Mr. Doueiri creates characters, emotional colors and political contradictions that have the agonized sting and breathe of life.
75
Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan
On one level, The Attack is a mystery, but not the kind you think. It’s obvious from the start who detonated the bomb; the only question is why. It’s a question that probably cannot be answered to the satisfaction of anyone living outside Israel or the occupied territories.
58
The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo
All the same, as dramatized here, The Attack skirts perilously close to being an apologia for suicide bombing.
88
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
Doueiri has brilliantly and simply put a compassionate human face on a part of the world where ethnicity still trumps education, class and achievement, where even the successful face, at best, second-class citizenship in their own country.
100
The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Farber
Although the subject matter is inherently disturbing, it’s hard to imagine any audience remaining unmoved by this mournful tale.
63
Slant Magazine by Tomas Hachard
The film is most interesting as an articulation of how its main character's initial status as an emblem of inter-religious understanding quickly dissolves following a suicide bombing.