Similarly devoid of nuance, its moral reckoning accentuated by brilliant black-and-white cinematography, Green Border is a visceral ordeal and virtuoso tumult.

| Jan 15, 2025

Green Border is not an easy watch, but it is an indescribably important one, and one of Holland’s most humane and compassionate works yet.

| Aug 26, 2024

Brutal, field-level depictions of trauma orchestrated by oppressive political structures seeking to manipulate the hearts and minds of some, while dehumanizing others renders Green Border an angry, visceral masterpiece.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2024

The haunted faces of actors such as Jalal Altawil are hard to forget. An extended coda, in which Ukrainian refugees are warmly welcomed by the same Polish guards who tormented Syrian refugees, packs a serious punch.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jul 13, 2024

It doesn't pull any punches on all sides.

| Jul 13, 2024

“Green Border” tells an important, of-the-moment story that seeks to shake the world awake to the insanity of world refugee crisis.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 10, 2024

“Green Border” has the directness and truth of a documentary and the emotional immediacy of a narrative feature.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 10, 2024

Holland’s film succeeds, and not only because this recent history is not past. It’s prologue.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 9, 2024

With pulse-pounding sweep and moral fury, the veteran Polish director Agnieszka Holland turns her camera on injustice at the Polish-Belarusian border.

| Jun 28, 2024

“Green Border” strikes me as the best and most important film to be released in the U.S. so far this year.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 28, 2024

This is bold filmmaking that makes us feel more courageous too. And there’s not a citizen of the world who couldn’t use some of that right now.

| Jun 27, 2024

If enough people end up watching the masterful and soul-shaking Green Border -- and absolutely everyone should, as soon as possible -- the collective conscience of the world could very well shift, even just a bit.

| Jun 26, 2024

By replicating the process of dehumanization, the film’s form forces us to confront our own inaction. Green Border is unforgettable, in all senses of the word.

| Jun 21, 2024

Green Border feels timeless in its approach, again emphasizing past and ongoing violence against those deemed societal “threats.”

| Original Score: A | Jun 21, 2024

That cruelty can be shocking, and while there are moments in this tough movie when I wept, the rigor of Holland’s filmmaking, and the steadfastness of her compassion, help steady you as a viewer.

| Jun 21, 2024

It's really, really moving and engaging. The horrific cruelty of the journey is depicted is utterly convincing.

| Jun 21, 2024

All Holland asks here is that viewers contemplate this headline-generating tragedy happening “over there” from the point of view of those within it. After you’ve sat through this devastating film, it’s impossible not to.

| Jun 20, 2024

Dramatically, the film is deftly structured. Holland also widens her lens to map the schism the crisis opens up among Polish people themselves.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 20, 2024

Any allegory about the perils of immigrants and the disdain countries have towards them is extremely topical. Leave it to the very bold Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa) to tackle the subject with an admirable urgency.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 23, 2023

Aside from the odd character work in the latter portion of the movie, Green Border remains a righteous, infuriating and woefully compelling watch.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 19, 2023