The grace of someone like Dr. Ballour and her colleagues is unquestioned, endlessly valuable and deserving of all the recognition in the world. What it is not is banal. Which is what "The Cave" comes dangerously close to making it.

| Jan 12, 2020

It's still profoundly effective film-making, but feels less true.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2019

Like Ballour, it has a purpose: to focus the world's attention on the suffering of Syrian people.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2019

Manipulations in post-production slightly undermine material that is already dramatic enough.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 5, 2019

A blistering documentary about death defiance in a war zone.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 4, 2019

Acute sociological tension mingles with the physical and psychological terror of bombings and of the chemical attack.

| Dec 3, 2019

A profile in courage under fire, The Cave sometimes relieves its enervating tension with occasional MASH-like interludes of levity: a surprise birthday party, some bickering over rice recipes, thoughtful drags on cigarettes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 27, 2019

The Cave like the region, shouldn't be ignored.

| Nov 27, 2019

It's no surprise the film won the People's Choice Documentary Award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 3, 2019

"The Cave" is a stark reminder of the toll of war, but also of the tenacity of the human spirit. God may not be watching, but we all should.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 31, 2019

Fayyad is a humanitarian, and his approach in "The Cave" demonstrates that.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 31, 2019

The primary focus, drawn from hundreds of hours of footage shot between 2016 and 2018, is on the physician Amani Ballour. I've rarely seen a more inspiring figure in a movie.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 23, 2019

This extraordinary film allows viewers to bear witness to courage and dedication in their finest forms - and it offers a grim reminder that justice, mercy and healing have been driven underground for centuries.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 23, 2019

This film is just stunning. It's a miracle it got made and it's a miracle that it got out into the world.

| Oct 21, 2019

A beautifully shot documentary that's as stunning as the images are harrowing.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 18, 2019

With Syria once again in the news for all the worst reasons, "The Cave" reminds us of the horrors of a situation we have perhaps become numb to and shows us the unforgettable people who don't have that luxury.

| Oct 18, 2019

Mixes the intensity of emergency work with the occasional quiet of exhausted heroes fighting back dejection.

| Oct 17, 2019

Feels both familiar and bleakly necessary.

| Original Score: A- | Oct 17, 2019

"The Cave" is a frightening immersion in life under siege in Syria that, as difficult as it often is to watch, can't come close to replicating how harrowing it must have been to film.

| Oct 17, 2019

The Cave isn't the best tribute to their actions. Instead, it's a monotonous descent into agony that coasts on the impossibility of anyone walking away unaffected by the imagery.

| Original Score: C | Oct 15, 2019