Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 80 | Rotten: 29
Sarah's Key is an absorbing, impeccably-acted Holocaust drama with minor plot issues.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 9
Sarah's Key is an absorbing, impeccably-acted Holocaust drama with minor plot issues.
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 7,200
Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d'Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand's family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what
PG-13, 1 hr. 51 min.
Jul 22, 2011 Limited
Nov 22, 2011
$7.7M
The Weinstein Company
All Critics (109) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (29) | DVD (3)
Thomas carries the weight of the movie, and her usual sangfroid works against her; when she finally makes contact with the deported couple's grandson, the story crumples into sentimentality
Scott Thomas's portrayal of her character's emotional transition ensures Sarah's Key will keep your heart open.
French director Paquet-Brenner occasionally yields to melodrama, particularly in the final act, but he is resolute about not depicting all of his countrymen as Nazi stooges, since many weren't.
Thomas' performance is one of brilliant restraint and believable naturalism.
It does provide audiences with the satisfaction of seeing and hearing an important truth expressed, and that's better than making you feel good. That's making you feel something.
Luckily, the movie has Scott Thomas. She knows her radiance can't be helped, so she uses it here like a searchlight.
The emphasis on the writer's relatively trivial if symbolic domestic woes (she experiences a 'miracle' pregnancy in the midst of her research into death) detracts from the power of the wartime scenes.
Makes a powerful impact thanks to the vividness and urgency of its historical scenes.
I'm delighted to see that the Weinstein Company is re-releasing one of the year's most overlooked films, Sarah's Key, the moving adaptation of Tatiana De Rosnay's international best-seller. It's one of the year's best films.
A very good film that ought to have been a great film, but greatness ultimately proves beyond its grasp -- if only just.
Teary-eyed absorbing Holocaust story.
Loses some force in its latter half but the key story remains gripping. Unlocks 70-year-old horrors so the present can't shut the door on past complicities and crimes.
Sarah's Key a poignant tribute to perseverance.
It's a harrowing story of a young girl trying to survive the extermination of everyone she knows. It's also a story of an upper-middle class woman dealing with an unhappy marriage. You just can't give these two things equal weight in a movie.
Sarah's Key is elevated by luminous performances by two actresses -- veteran Kristin Scott Thomas and 10-year old Melusine Mayance. Fortunately their talent often is able to transcend the contrivances that mar the plot.
The performances by Kristin Scott Thomas and especially Melusine Mayance (as the young Sarah) are key to the picture's success.
Anything that might convey the genuine horror of the monstrous acts committed against French Jews is delicately avoided by director Gilles Paquet-Brenner's respectful Steadicam.
Although a wonderful story, it seems to come out in fits and starts. The slow, meandering pace may be a turnoff to those unfamiliar with the novel. Mayance, in her feature film debut, takes the cake in the acting category. Thomas is a...
"Sarah's Key" uses this buried historical incident as a springboard for a potent tale of survival, guilt and hard-nosed reporting.
Were it not for the subtitles, this could easily go out on ITV primetime.
Overly elaborate Holocaust drama nevertheless benefits from the presence of Kristin Scott Thomas.
Should we remember every horrid detail of the past, or is it better to sometimes let the past go?... [T]his tough, starkly unsentimental film does not offer a definitive answer, except to suggest that there may be no good one.
...a stirring, emotionally wrenching drama that more than lives up to its source material...
A fictional story built around historical facts and events, Sarah's Key is an incredibly well-made film which draws us in and never lets go. Even after it's over, the images and emotions linger in my mind. I've been thinking about it for days. Beautiful cinematography, amazing acting from the young actors, and a
October 5, 2011Super Reviewer
It's well-nigh impossible to make a film about the Holocaust without either lecturing the audience or slipping into inappropriate sentimentality. The best examples of this genre (if such a term is appropriate) are character-driven pieces like The Pianist and Life is Beautiful. These films focus on the utterly human
August 23, 2011
Super Reviewer
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 83% | Puss in Boots |
| 94% | Moneyball |
| 59% | Real Steel |
| 84% | Contagion |
| 83% | Puss in Boots |
| 68% | Tower Heist |
| 90% | Martha Marcy May Marlene |
| 33% | London Boulevard |
| 17% | The Son of No One |
Puss in Boots and J. Edgar
50 best-reviewed Best Picture nominees
Ranking the 75 best animated movies ever!
Download the official PDF!