A heartwarming blend of light and shadow, beautifully juxtaposing joyous-soulful music with the era's stark realities.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 8, 2024

The Sapphires is a solid entry into Indigenous cinema from so called Australia. There is a considered balance to addressing topics like the Stolen generation with the levity of music, love and family.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 8, 2024

...a mostly affable yet entirely generic endeavor that benefits from its solid performances and rousing musical numbers...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 13, 2023

Its got a great beat, and you can dance to it, so Ill give "The Sapphires" four out of four stars.

| Feb 6, 2022

A mix of drama and dance, triumph and tragedy, it will take a hard-of-heart audience member not to be swept up by the story.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2020

...it is rare to come across a movie with such sweetness, a movie in which one roots wholeheartedly for the characters and wishes them only the best.

| Aug 13, 2020

Slightly lacklustre in drama but sassy and lighthearted, The Sapphires is an enjoyable film and is a pretty good platform to show the power of Motown.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 25, 2019

The Sapphires is a genuinely feel-good film that has grit as well as laughter, and some great music which packs enough emotional power to make the tears flow - in a good way.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2018

The Sapphires possesses all the necessary razzle-dazzle, shimmering sequin dresses and O'Dowd comic riffs to prove popular with audiences.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 23, 2018

Jessica Mauboy and Deborah Mailman showcase womanhood, with all its glory and its challenges, in this uplifting drama.

| Sep 15, 2017

The Sapphires is hard to resist.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 11, 2017

This feelgood flick will almost certainly be an international hit and it is undeniably uplifting, the joyousness of soul music smoothing out the odd shifts in tone that arise as a result of the strange genre conflict.

| Aug 11, 2017

The clichs are rendered painless by excellent performances from the five principles, with O'Dowd and Mailman particularly standing out.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 1, 2014

This charming Australian import has a groove much like other low-key, let's-put-on-a-show indies such as Hear My Song and The Commitments, and never uses its social conscience as simply backbeat.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2014

A heavy-handed anti-racism message isn't easier to take when played to a Motown beat, though the Australian comedy-drama The Sapphires acts otherwise.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 1, 2014

The Sapphires has too many facets.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 1, 2014

The skill and sly moments of real panache help turn The Sapphires into a shining example of the type of film this country really ought to be making more of.

| Original Score: B | Oct 17, 2013

Tries to dazzle itself but the shine comes off quickly, as this weakly structured story flees at the sight of any lingering dramatic conflict, preferring to turn history into a pleasant song-and-dance routine.

| Jul 11, 2013

A unique and heartening look at four young women blossoming into mature adults as they enjoy a bout with success in the midst of a hard-fought war.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 30, 2013

Quite possibly the least original movie you'll see this summer -- and one of the most enjoyable.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 4, 2013