75
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerWhile the drama never exactly ignites, Schäublin keeps us constantly fascinated with his detailed historical recreations and keen observations on science, manufacturing and technology, and how they weighed upon the souls of workers and owners alike.
- 90VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangA gorgeously playful oddity glimmering with insight into ideology, photography, cartography, telegraphy, celebrity, solidarity, the flow of capital, the unruliness of time and the somehow noble lunacy of trying to tame such a massive concept into a brass doodad small enough to fit in a waistcoat pocket
- 90The New York TimesAmy NicholsonThe New York TimesAmy NicholsonThe film punctures that airless sense of fate which can suffocate period pieces and restores this moment of upheaval to immediacy.
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorUnrest leaves the mind purring. How did we, you begin wondering, get ourselves into all this? Humans, the film argues, have only ourselves to blame for constructing a system that would eventually imprison us, yet Unrest is not short on levity, and not least in its beautiful closing image or in the energizing sensation it leaves in the nervous system. If a quieter work of agitprop exists, you might struggle to hear it.
- 80Screen DailyWendy IdeScreen DailyWendy IdeAn investment on the part of the audience is required, to focus in on the characters and to follow the dialogue. It’s not quite as dry as it sounds. There is a subtle humour in this singular approach, but like the dialogue and the drama (such that it is), it is sidelined.
- 80Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenThere’s a prevailing playfulness to many of the sequences which, like that properly placed unrest wheel, ensures a satisfying balance.
- 63Slant MagazinePat BrownSlant MagazinePat BrownCyril Schäublin’s precisely framed snapshot of a microcosm of timekeepers ends up being a bit too, well, mechanical.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreUnrest could have been a lot of things that it’s not — “fascinating,” “illuminating,” “entertaining” and even “inspiring” among them. Instead, we’re treated to engrossing details that never add up to more than watching a second hand labor its way around a clock face.
- 38RogerEbert.comMonica CastilloRogerEbert.comMonica CastilloUnrest is an intriguing period piece but a flawed curio that never quite achieves its soul-stirring goals.