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The Class Review

Movies.com Critics

5.0

Dave White Profile

Mouthy, sullen, awful fourteen-year-olds. Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 5.0
    92

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Universal acclaim
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

    In a class by itself.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Variety Justin Chang

    Talky in the best sense, the film exhilarates with its lively, authentic classroom banter while its emotional undercurrents build steadily but almost imperceptibly over a swift 129 minutes. One of the most substantive and purely entertaining movies in competition at Cannes this year.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    The movie is bursting with life, energy, fears, frustrations and the quick laughter of a classroom hungry for relief.

    Read Full Review

  • 100

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    The Class is clearly a microcosm of contemporary France, beset by social and economic tensions. More than that, though, it's a saga of education's struggles in many parts of the modern world. If only the film were pure fiction.

    Read Full Review

  • 88

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    The Class is a deeply moving film about the challenges of educating children in a complex and often turbulent world.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    The reality of Franois' classroom is so intense that it holds our interest even while the film's dramatic focus is building so quietly under the surface that we don't notice it at first.

    Read Full Review

  • 90

    out of 100

    The New York Times Manohla Dargis

    Here Mr. Cantet -- whose earlier features include "Human Resources" and "Time Out," two other dramas about systems of power -- has done that rarest of things in movies about children: He has allowed them to talk.

    Read Full Review

  • See all The Class reviews at Metacritic.com

Fan Reviews provided by

4

The Class is intense by Turk_182
It's a very French film - no Hollywood beginnings or endings, the plot doesn't turn as you expect - and it feels very real, you get into the characters and feel their struggles. It's not an easy film but it's quite good and touches on the issues of culture that Europe is struggling with.

4

Compelling and documentary-like by jenhc
Great performances from a cast of (mostly) non-actors. I had thought there would be more of an emphasis on racial tensions because of its setting in a particularly lively Paris district and the rioting that occurred in 2005 in nearby suburbs and all over the country. It was easy to get wrapped up in the stories surrounding the classroom, and with the number of students and glimpses into their lives, I wonder if a deeper focus on only couple or few of them would have been more/less effective. I'll likely pick up the book on which this film is based.

4

Simple and effective by preago24
Good picture about living people. One year passes. Some of the pupils have a future and some haven't. There are different destinies ahead. But the teacher will remain there. François Bégaudeau is astounding.

5

A great movie. by armanmg
Type of movie hollywood is incapable of making. Subtitles does not distract you from sinking in this so real and poignant movie.

5

Exhausting purposeful film... by woodi68
I've read some reviews that say this film lacks focus, but I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the film. And I'm comfortable saying that those who thought it lacked focus likely just couldn't keep up! It's an intense film. Dialogue is in its native french language with streaming English translated subtitles that go roughly a mile a minute! So, that makes it VERY difficult to keep up with. Since I speak french I actually found it even MORE difficult to keep up with. At times I would be watching the film listening and understanding the dialogue, but then would get lost and would try to figure it out by switching to the subtitles. Eeeesh. A nightmare with the dialogue moving as quickly as it did. That said, I LOVED this film.

5

Loved it by mira99
I didn't grow up in France but Germany and I totally recognize the student body and even the teacher. I could feel the anxiety of both. Awesome movie...

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