“The Zookeeper’s Wife” may not satisfy those looking for a more visceral experience, but not every Holocaust story requires that approach. Many of these stories weren’t as pronounced, yet they were just as powerful and inspirational. This is such a story.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 20, 2022

The Zookeeper's Wife is an accomplished picture, offering a fascinating history lesson even as it remains wholly topical.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 17, 2021

Dr. Jan Żabiński and Antonina Żabińska were named to the Righteous Among the Nations and The Zookeeper's Wife shows why.

| Jul 18, 2021

Chastain holds the centre of the story, providing a steely, compelling - although distractingly accented - character.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 28, 2021

Metaphorically, this "zoo" story underscores the vile character of the Nazis' racist-chauvinist view that other peoples, especially the Jews, were subhuman species.

| Feb 22, 2021

The Zookeeper's Wife doesn't find much to say about a woman's place in wartime or even a broader analysis of suffering.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 24, 2020

This is one of the good ones, and you should see it, if only as a reminder that Jessica Chastain makes all things a little bit better.

| May 5, 2020

I appreciated the historical importance of this film and [the] stellar acting by the entire cast.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 24, 2020

[Niki Caro] tends to devote more effort to the construction of the characters than to the relationships between the protagonists. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jan 2, 2020

The movie... belongs to Jessica Chastain, who perfectly embodies Antonina's outward fragility and inner strength.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 21, 2019

The emotional resonance of The Zookeeper's Wife would be zilch if not for a commendable and committed lead performance from Jessica Chastain.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 8, 2019

Antonina Zabinski was a woman of privilege and resources, and her family's true story of heroism and generosity is almost too beautiful to be believed.

| Sep 11, 2019

Jessica Chastain delivers a moving performance.

| Sep 6, 2019

Chastain commands every scene with a strong, feminine spirit as Antonina, an important voice during the darkest times of war.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 17, 2019

War doesn't only happen to men, as Caro's film attests: women, children and animals are also casualties of war.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 17, 2019

The truth is, while audiences may be quick to decide not to take part in a movie as depressing as this, the feeling of sheer love you feel once you leave the theater is profound.

| Original Score: B | Mar 30, 2019

While its somewhat restrained execution may keep the story from fully coming to life, The Zookeeper's Wife is still a well-made movie that benefits from a very talented cast.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 21, 2019

With its 126-minute run time, The Zookeeper's Wife is long, sometimes unnecessarily so. A Holocaust film can be more than a tear-jerker, but this one doesn't even try to do anything else.

| Feb 19, 2019

This shouldn't so much have a star rating as a hankie rating, though the atmosphere is lightened by the world's bounciest baby camel. The accents are all over the place, but while it does veer into cliche, the most moving scenes are thankfully unforced.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 30, 2018

Director Niki Caro has had past success with films that center around strong females with Whale Rider and North Country, so it's no surprise that she is once again effective here -- allowing Chastain to shine in the lead role.

| Original Score: B | Nov 3, 2018