The documentary tells a strange story but one that will have you thinking deeply about what love and creativity mean in different circumstances.

| Apr 13, 2021

The story sounds like the plot of an unpublished John le Carré novel or perhaps a wild Seth Rogen movie idea. Its equal parts thrilling and absurd.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 1, 2021

The Lovers and the Despot is filled to the brim with amusing, entertaining anecdotes. But it could've been even better, considering how fantastic its subjects are.

| Jul 17, 2020

One of the stranger stories to come out of the bizarre life of Kim Jong-il.

| Original Score: 3.25/5 | Jul 20, 2019

The Lovers and the Despot is undoubtedly a gripping and moving piece, its story of the bizarre love triangle between the dictator, the famous couple, and the cinema an astounding chapter in North Korean lore.

| Mar 15, 2019

The Lovers and the Despot takes its viewers behind the crazy world of North Korea and into the mind of one of history's greatest monsters.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 1, 2018

The style doesn't really match the substance, but the substance is worthwhile.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 28, 2018

... it's truly the most terrifying film you'll see all year.

| Aug 6, 2018

In a period where nuclear holocaust is threatened over North Korea, a nuanced film such as this is essential.

| Jan 26, 2018

In one of the year's weirdest documentaries is a movie within a movie about one dictator's hope of finding a little slice of Hollywood.

| Nov 20, 2017

The logline sounds like a darkly comedic fictional madcap caper. However, this insanely catchy hook is actually an utterly chilling, harrowing affair.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Nov 5, 2017

In an absolute case of "truth is stranger than fiction," "The Lovers and the Despot" both defies credulity and inspires awe.

| Sep 15, 2017

The film never transcends its subject matter to be more than an information dump: it fails to tell a meaningful story about either the family, the time period, filmmaking, or North Korea.

| Jul 14, 2017

A riveting web of intrigue and suspense to rival any cold war thriller.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 11, 2017

This is a true story that is stranger than fiction, a story of a movie star, a movie director, spies, secret agents, kidnappings, a dictator who loves movies, and captive talents making movies for a repressive regime.

| Original Score: B | Jan 19, 2017

The story's strangeness makes it interesting enough, but it's somewhat lacking in terms of what the couple's day-to-day lives and mindsets were like while imprisoned.

| Jan 2, 2017

[A] fascinating historical documentary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 27, 2016

This British film has an intriguing tale to tell, but the slow, oppressive delivery is rather too evocative of communist gloom.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 17, 2016

There is a great documentary here somewhere, which makes it all the more frustrating to sit through a film that does just enough.

| Dec 8, 2016

A bizarre documentary on the hostile way the dictator of North Korea tries to get his country recognition in the world as a major player in movies.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 13, 2016