80
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Total FilmTotal FilmWith its slow tracking shots, complete disregard for edited narrative and endless baaing and whistling, it’ll either bore you to tears or hypnotise you with its weird Herzogian beauty.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis beautiful and hypnotic documentary shows the agony and the ecstasy of herding sheep up into Montana's Beartooth mountains for the summer pasture.
- 78Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesAustin ChronicleKimberley JonesSweetgrass’ unbroken shots of often-repetitive activity have a beguiling quality to them, their very monotony encouraging a deeper absorption and reflection, but hard facts aren’t easy to come by.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeAn anthropological marvel and an animal-drive movie that belongs beside the classics of the genre - Red River and Lonesome Dove.
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanIt's a gorgeous and, believe it or not, riveting documentary . . . about sheep.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanSweetgrass is austere enough to make Frederick Wiseman's films look like Jersey Shore episodes, yet it has its own suspense.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe filmmakers wisely avoid the temptation to be cutesy (remember that penguin movie?) and sentimental.
- 75The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe film is less about people or this specific herding ritual than about the majesty of the landscape and the interplay between these animals, their keepers, and the dictates of nature itself.
- It’s a powerful testimonial to a fading way of life.