Jennifer Fox's autobiographical debut makes for harrowing but essential viewing.

| Dec 19, 2018

For Fox, and for all of us, The Tale is a spot in time worth finding.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 27, 2018

Jenny's reluctance to stare down the horror gives "The Tale" an ineluctable psychological power.

| Aug 23, 2018

The Tale is lit up by a clarifying anger, but it has a stirring, inspiring streak-it's about mastering a story by finding the right way to tell it.

| Jun 26, 2018

It is, instead, a startlingly effective act of fiction, in which [Jennifer] Fox turns her abuser into an accessory in her own narrative, a means to an ending.

| Jun 7, 2018

Even viewed from the sofa, it makes an IMAX-sized impact.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 7, 2018

As harrowing as it is to watch, seeing a woman come to terms with the reality of her abuse after decades of burying it is deeply powerful.

| Jun 4, 2018

Fox's movie renders the reconsideration of the personal past inseparable from reconsiderations of the historical past-and so, of cultural objects from the past that exert enduring power today.

| Jun 3, 2018

The Tale excels in these absurdist meta-moments, such as the scenes in which Dern and Nélisse meet up across time to deconstruct events as they happen.

| Jun 1, 2018

This is a timely and important film, told with honesty and dedication to examining the anguish and anger such terrible events leave in their wake.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 31, 2018

The Tale depicts the haziness of memory cinematically.

| May 30, 2018

[The Tale] is an impressive, cohesive piece.

| May 29, 2018

Ultimately, "The Tale" is a wrenching, heartfelt success.

| May 27, 2018

The most shocking, upsetting thing Fox has done is tell a story about the malleability of our memories.

| Original Score: A | May 26, 2018

In a performance that ranks among the best I've seen in any film (theatrical or otherwise) this decade, Laura Dern essentially stands in for Fox... a beautifully nuanced portrayal of a smart, accomplished, independent woman.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 25, 2018

"The Tale" is a push, then, to disseminate a hard truth - and by extension an argument for confronting the reality of abuse and abusers, no matter how painful that process might be. And it's effective. Frighteningly, unforgettably so.

| May 25, 2018

The Tale is above all a work of profound empathy, as a look inside someone's psyche would have to be.

| May 25, 2018

The film is one long interrogation, not only from Jennifer the character's standpoint, but from a directorial standpoint.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 25, 2018

Fox does well by her protagonists - both of them.

| May 25, 2018

Fox's directing and script are so purposeful and direct that it can be very hard to watch "The Tale" without having to look away.

| May 24, 2018