The Mother of All Lies

critic Reviews

, 100% Fresh Tomatometer Score
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Monica CastilloRogerEbert.com
    El Moudir strikes an impressive balance between rediscovering the past and unearthing the emotions packed away for decades.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Greg NussenSlant Magazine
    Through her use of recreation, Asmae El Moudir suggests that the act of documentary filmmaking can turn historical truths into fiction, in which everyone becomes an active participant.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Phuong LeGuardian
    The delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” -- a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Drew GregoryAutostraddle
    A staggering work of documentary filmmaking, Asmae El Moudir recreates her personal history and a tragic chapter in Morocco’s history with her family as witness.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Manuel BetancourtVariety
    “The Mother of All Lies” is an astonishing work whose maturity comes from El Moudir’s wide-eyed approach to her family history, where memory and history are quite literally reduced to playthings in order to process the unspeakable events they conjure up.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Wendy IdeScreen International
    [An] intriguing, offbeat and personal documentary...
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    David WalshWorld Socialist Web Site
    The filmmaker’s approach is unusual, to a certain extent perhaps forced upon her by circumstances. For political reasons, it remains difficult to confront the crimes committed by Hassan II (whose son, Mohammed VI, is the nation’s present ruler).
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Ray GreeneCineGods.com
    A remarkable reimagining of the very grammar of the documentary film.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Andrew WyattThe Take-Up
    A big swing that pays off, Asmae El Moudir's hybrid documentary examines the three-way intersection of creativity, history, and memory in a way that is both artistically invigorating and emotionally thorny.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Diane CarsonKDHX (St. Louis)
    Though the film builds slowly, it’s a valuable journey.
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