Opening

88% Captain Phillips Oct 11
25% Machete Kills Oct 11
—— Haunt Oct 11
42% All the Boys Love Mandy Lane Oct 11
—— Romeo and Juliet Oct 11
63% Escape From Tomorrow Oct 11
—— CBGB Oct 11
—— The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete Oct 11
—— Zero Charisma Oct 11
—— Where the Devil Hides Oct 11

Top Box Office

98% Gravity $55.6M
59% Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 $21.5M
8% Runner Runner $7.6M
80% Prisoners $5.7M
88% Rush $4.4M
83% Don Jon $4.2M
16% Baggage Claim $4.1M
35% Insidious: Chapter 2 $3.9M
57% Pulling Strings $2.5M
95% Enough Said $2.2M
53% Instructions Not Included $1.8M
47% We're The Millers $1.6M
33% The Family $1.5M
73% Lee Daniels' The Butler $1.2M
—— Grace Unplugged $1.0M
78% Metallica Through the Never $0.7M
60% Riddick $0.5M
5% Battle of the Year $0.5M
75% Despicable Me 2 $0.5M
91% Blue Jasmine $0.5M

Coming Soon

78% Kill Your Darlings Oct 16
—— Carrie Oct 18
—— Escape Plan Oct 18
35% The Fifth Estate Oct 18
97% 12 Years a Slave Oct 18
100% All Is Lost Oct 18
86% Haunter Oct 18
—— Paradise Oct 18

Stories We Tell (2013)

tomatometer

95

Average Rating: 8.6/10
Reviews Counted: 105
Fresh: 100 | Rotten: 5

In Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley plays with the documentary format to explore the nature of memory and storytelling, crafting a thoughtful, compelling narrative that unfolds like a mystery,

91

Average Rating: 8.9/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 32 | Rotten: 3

In Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley plays with the documentary format to explore the nature of memory and storytelling, crafting a thoughtful, compelling narrative that unfolds like a mystery,

audience

80

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 9,610

My Rating

Movie Info

In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, Oscar (R)-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day

Sep 3, 2013

$1.6M

Roadside Attractions - Official Site External Icon

Watch It Now

Cast

ADVERTISEMENT

All Critics (105) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (100) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1)

Everyone has a different story. I found myself holding my breath listening to them talk. The story twists like a thriller.

June 25, 2013 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Stories We Tell is not just very moving; it is an exploration of truth and fiction that will stay with you long after repeated viewings.

June 12, 2013 Full Review Source: The New Republic
The New Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Part of the movie's pleasure is how comfortable the "storytellers" are with their director; you get a sense of a complicated but tight-knit family, going along with Sarah's project because they love her.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What a great movie.

June 6, 2013 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Never sentimental, never cold and never completely sure of anything, Polley comes across as a woman caught in wonder.

May 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Detroit News
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

After you see it, you'll be practically exploding with questions - and with awe.

May 30, 2013 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

To her credit, Polley never attempts to deflect the painful truths that she unearths, leaving them raw and open for us to experience right along with her.

October 5, 2013 Full Review Source: Examiner.com
Examiner.com

This is a hard-to-classify and very personal doco, a study of the stories families tell each other and the stories we tell ourselves, regardless of whether either are in any way 'true'.

October 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Rip It Up

Canadian actress/director Sarah Polley (Away from Her; Take This Waltz) presents an absorbing family history that is so ingeniously mounted it doubles as a wry commentary on the documentary form, examining our willingness to believe what we see.

September 29, 2013 Full Review Source: 3AW

Just when you think you know where it's heading and what it's emphasising... the film unexpectedly changes direction. It's so beautifully done.

September 26, 2013 Full Review Source: ABC Radio Brisbane
ABC Radio Brisbane

An extraordinary work that is both an intellectual examination into the nature of how cinema represents reality as well as a deeply moving personal project.

September 25, 2013 Full Review Source: Cinema Autopsy
Cinema Autopsy

There are many moments when I was moved to tears - when raw truths involving emotions, are delivered by family members in spontaneous, unrehearsed fashion. Polley has crafted a rare jewel of a film that reveals much about her own family

September 24, 2013 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Urban Cinefile

What is not in doubt is the raw emotion in this work - from Polley quivering with nervous energy as she watches her father read some of the more revelatory pieces of script - to the impact airing the family's dirty linen in public has on her siblings.

September 9, 2013 Full Review Source: Eye for Film
Eye for Film

Fascinating personal documentary.

July 23, 2013 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Slowly but surely Polley pieces together her own family's history to create a kind of cinematic narrative - complete with a twist straight from a soap opera.

July 22, 2013 Full Review Source: Birmingham Mail
Birmingham Mail

An unconventional but wonderfully assembled exploration of how -- and why -- we tell stories, all wrapped in a closely guarded family secret.

July 19, 2013 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune
Times-Picayune

Polley is savvy, using her talent as a director -- as a storyteller -- to give it universal appeal even though it's a very specific account.

July 12, 2013 Full Review Source: About.com
About.com

Perhaps the most organic, transformative meeting of form and function I've seen this year.

July 8, 2013 Full Review Source: Ultra Culture
Ultra Culture

Stories We Tell is cinema cutting to the profound truth of why we use narrative to make sense of the world.

July 7, 2013 Full Review Source: 2UE That Movie Show
2UE That Movie Show

For the most part, Polley's thoughts and feelings are pretty much absent, but the film makes some nice observations about memory and how it affects - yup - the stories we tell.

July 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Flix Capacitor
Flix Capacitor

The movie isn't really about the Polley family: It's about memory, and loss, and forgiveness, and, through it all, hope. It'll knock you over.

July 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Deadspin
Deadspin

What emerges is a fascinating and illuminating story, one that runs the gamut from intense joy to deep sadness and features a couple of surprising twists that take proceedings off in strange and unusual directions.

July 1, 2013 Full Review Source: Scotsman

An honest and authentic documentary that powerfully explores the filmmaker's own family.

June 30, 2013 Full Review Source: John Hanlon Reviews
John Hanlon Reviews

Polley's portrait of modern family life is a playfully profound discussion of narrative forms - the way in which we each construct our own reality through stories, part truth, part invention.

June 30, 2013 Full Review Source: Observer [UK]
Observer [UK]

A decent piece of work, but too fussy for its own good.

June 30, 2013 Full Review Source: Irish Times
Irish Times

Polley approaches every character with compassion, intent upon blessing them, and serving the audience with useful questions about how we seek the truth.

June 28, 2013 Full Review Source: Response

Audience Reviews for Stories We Tell

Actress/director Sarah Polley interviews family and friends to get their perspectives on a family secret. A heartfelt and well-told story, although the narrative's intricacy and novelty is oversold.
September 25, 2013
366weirdmovies
Greg S

Super Reviewer

Michael Polley: My god all this stuff we've been joking about for years is actually true.

This has not been by choice or any reason in particular, but I have not seen too many documentaries so far this year. That said, I was fully willing to embrace a new film from director Sarah Polley, which happens to be a documentary about her family. My initial thought, upon learning about the nature of this documentary, had me wondering why a film like this would need be made, let alone why would it be compelling. It is somewhat surprising that Stories We Tell is as compelling as it is. I say "somewhat" because the film has near universal acclaim, so I would have, if anything, been more surprised to not have liked the film. The film is a documentary, no doubt, but it has a well thought out structure and presents a story with some turns balanced by the earnest nature of the people involved and the fact that they are very likable in their matter-of-fact presentation of the details.

read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
September 19, 2013
DrZeek

Super Reviewer

There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.

Discussion Forum

There are no discussion threads yet for this movie.

What's Hot On RT

The Hobbit
The Hobbit

New Desolation of Smaug trailer!

Diana Trailer
Diana Trailer

Naomi Watts is Princess Di

Box Office
Box Office

Gravity sets new record

<em>The Nut Job</em>
The Nut Job

Trailer for a squirrely heist flick

Primetime Preview
Primetime Preview

See what's on TV tonight

Latest News on Stories We Tell

September 2, 2013:
Digital Multiplex: Iron Man 3, The Bling Ring, and More
This week in streaming video, we've got the third installment of a popular Marvel franchise, Sofia...
May 14, 2013:
Sarah Polley Talks Stories We Tell
Some behind-the-scenes perspective on one of the year's most widely praised films.
Help | About | Jobs | Critics Submission | Press | API | Licensing | Mobile