Monrovia is a highlight among Wiseman’s recent work...

| Jan 4, 2023

If ever in the future there is a museum dedicated to the past this title will surely be endlessly looping.

| Original Score: 64/100 | Sep 3, 2021

There doesn't feel like there's an ounce of manipulation in Monrovia, Indiana.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 17, 2020

Maintaining a chilly distance from his subjects, Wiseman avoids uncovering a more complex reality, thereby rendering impossible any genuine insight into or accurate political assessment about this community...

| Aug 7, 2020

As all Wiseman's films are, this one is a fascinating exercise in empathy in a time when we can use all the understanding of other people that we can muster.

| Jul 1, 2020

Monrovia, Indiana isn't quite the scintillating investigation into life in a red state that audiences might expect. It is, like all of Wiseman's work, a film about life.

| Feb 18, 2020

Monrovia, Indiana's slow rhythm invites us to exercise patience to appreciate it. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Jul 5, 2019

Wiseman is a peerless filmmaker, and Monrovia, Indiana is a testament to his talent as a quiet observer.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 3, 2019

Nothing short of a masterpiece.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 8, 2019

For a movie trying to rehabilitate rural America, it seems odd to find a subject town 15 minutes from an international airport and 30 from a metropolis.

| Jan 19, 2019

This might not be the loud kind of political filmmaking one thinks of first, but it's frankly more satisfying and intellectually stimulating because of it.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 28, 2018

While the film certainly isn't a departure from his usual style, there is something perhaps less inviting this time around.

| Original Score: C+ | Dec 24, 2018

Wiseman's stoic observational style does indeed paint an accurate portrait of small-town America where gun ownership and a firm belief in Christianity is expected, but in this instance, it doesn't necessarily make for compelling cinema.

| Dec 5, 2018

[Director Frederick] Wiseman's apolitical style has never seemed more in need of some propulsive activism.

| Nov 21, 2018

As scenes recur and a rhythm gets going, certain types of labor gain force as organizing principles in the film.

| Nov 19, 2018

I wouldn't call Monrovia one of Wiseman's best efforts, but it exemplifies an approach in which he captures various places and institutions as if he were recording for future generations.

| Nov 15, 2018

What I learned from Monrovia, Indiana is that I - personally - am bored by mattress shopping, City Council arguments over fire hydrants, and high school band concerts I am not obligated by shared DNA to attend.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 15, 2018

What is striking is how Wiseman's images feel deeply intimate without becoming invasive, revealing while still respecting the subjects.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 11, 2018

Not the meatiest Wiseman effort, but even minor Wiseman provides major cinematic nourishment for the soul.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 8, 2018

Like all of Wiseman's films, "Monrovia, Indiana" possesses almost meditative power.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 8, 2018