Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Visually stunning and moving religious documentary that gives the outsider a rare eyewitness report on the four-year search for the rebirth of a Tibetan lama in Nepal.

| Original Score: A- | Feb 13, 2010

Along the way, we are treated to a tour of spiritual belief, Buddhist ceremony and rural life in this remote region.

| Dec 6, 2009

How far can an incredibly cute kid and an incredibly beautiful setting go toward making a movie worthwhile? Not far enough, as indicated by Unmistaken Child.

Full Review | Oct 22, 2009

At once a compelling story and a meditative experience -- not something you'll find in Hollywood karma.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 2, 2009

This documentary is only partly a story of the chosen one; mainly, and more intriguingly, it's a chronicle of the choosing one, of the nervous young monk charged with the job of leading the search party.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 2, 2009

Films that address faith and love as eloquently as this moving 2008 documentary are rare.

| Oct 2, 2009

The film is fascinating on every level -- as a portrait of a willing servant in a complex, powerful and inscrutable religious system and a feast of spectacular sights and unusual mundane events in a corner of the world rarely exposed to prying eyes.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 2, 2009

Even atheists may find their world rocked by Nati Baratz's Unmistaken Child.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 14, 2009

Who knew reincarnation could be such a lovely snooze?

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 31, 2009

[Director] Baratz doesn't ask any of the obvious questions, preferring to observe uncritically, and if you can do the same, you may find Unmistaken Child worth seeing. I could not, and grew restless.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 23, 2009

[Director] Baratz's access to every stage of the process -- from Zopa's selection of a candidate to the testing of that candidate to the blessing of the Dalai Lama himself -- is phenomenal, almost indescribably privileged.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 16, 2009

You could argue that the film would be stronger if it explained more fully and asked more questions, yet "Unmistaken Child'' stands as a window on a beautiful and mysterious world. The questions it leaves hanging are for us to untangle.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 16, 2009

Baratz's work may not be the slickest, but he took a risk and followed through under arduous conditions to let an audience share in a mystical journey. The film itself is an act of faith.

| Original Score: A- | Jul 6, 2009

Adorable, moving, bewildering, sad and, ultimately, peaceful.

| Jul 2, 2009

A compelling documentary about events that followed the 2001 death of the revered Tibetan master Geshe Lama Kochog.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 26, 2009

A rare, intimate look at Tibetan Buddhists' search for the reincarnation of a deceased Lama, this beautifully filmed documetary is an extraordinary spiritual travelog, with all the dramatic elements of an exotic, enthralling fantasy

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 22, 2009

A most intimate look at the recognition of a peasant child as a prophet. A masterpiece of understatement.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 15, 2009

Its privileged glimpse deep into unfamiliar spiritual territory has the strength of revelation.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 12, 2009

Unmistaken Child stands above most others in offering us an intimate look at Tibetan Buddhism in action, with no external commentary or narration.

| Jun 12, 2009