Review of The Student (2017) by John Bleasdale for CineVue — 20 May 2016

A dark and slightly hysterical portrait of fundamentalist fever.

You can read the full review where it was originally posted online.

This review of The Student (2017) was written by John Bleasdale and published by CineVue on 20 May 2016.

The Student has generally received positive reviews.

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More Reviews of The Student

Review of The Student (2017)

By Phil Hoad (110) for The Guardian (2,969) on 16 Apr 2017

If The Student lacks the searing moral exactness of the Russian literature on which it draws, it’s an often hypnotic warning against dogma’s…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Lezee (801) on 04 Nov 2017

When a thin line drawn between the two concepts. It is hard to describe this film. A challenging film to make as well…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Bilge Ebiri (1,050) for Village Voice (8,525) on 08 Feb 2018

For most of its running time, The Student is immensely compelling, a terrifying ride between hothouse realism and dreamy metaphor…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Godfrey Cheshire (178) for RogerEbert.com (5,563) on 20 Apr 2017

One of the strongest aspects of The Student is that, while its view of Venya’s beliefs is decidedly skeptical, it doesn’t ridicule him…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Leslie Felperin (768) for The Hollywood Reporter (7,050) on 20 May 2016

Offers both a universally relevant examination of religious zealotry and, at the same time, a damning, satirical look at modern Russia, a country…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Guy Lodge (731) for Variety (12,700) on 20 May 2016

The Student is a film that never stops to think; it thinks (and speaks, and shouts) while prodigiously on the move…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Sarah Ward (538) for Screen International (2,241) on 20 May 2016

The end result proves commanding and fascinating, even if it’s not wholly satisfying from start to finish…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Philip Kemp (186) for Total Film (3,532) on 06 Mar 2017

Skvortsov gives a scarily grim-faced performance, with biology teacher Elena (Viktoriya Isakova) increasingly beleaguered as the only one resisting…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Cath Clarke (570) for Time Out London (344) on 27 Feb 2017

There is surely a sly attack here on the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin’s suppression of liberal values and demonisation of the LGBT community…

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Review of The Student (2017)

By Josh Hamm (4) for The Film Stage (3,162) on 19 Oct 2016

Even if it is visually up to the task, The Student is hobbled by its script and hog tied by its characters…

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