73
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistGary GarrisonThe PlaylistGary GarrisonIt certainly succeeds in being a joyous, humane look at the role that school, education, and, most importantly, teachers have in the lives of such malleable minds.
- 83The A.V. ClubJosh ModellThe A.V. ClubJosh ModellMaybe it won’t exist in Ireland much longer either, so it’s a good thing that School Life manages to capture its weird, wonderful world.
- 80Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganChildhood is a mystery we endlessly come back to and a place the Leydens have never fully left; Ní Chianáin gives the viewer an intimate view of it in this unusual little story.
- 80School Life is a bit woolly in its pacing, but the picture’s easygoing structure is part of its charm—it mimics, perhaps, the passage of time at Headfort itself.
- 75The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkIn Loco Parentis is a warm work of cinéma vérité.
- 75IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichBy highlighting sweet, indicative, or hilarious moments rather than tracing the teachers’ relationships with any particular students, the film is more attuned to the rhythms of Headfort than it is the people in it.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungThe Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungA conventionally mounted tribute to a genial, decidedly British form of eccentricity.
- 70VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeThere’s considerable poignancy in the contrast between this eccentric pair’s mutual sense that their lives are winding down and the vast, still-unshaped futures of their young charges, but Ní Chianáin’s film largely resists sentimentality of the “Greatest Love of All” variety.
- 70The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergSchool Life is a loving portrait, primarily, of the inspirational educator couple, who command the respect of their students and always seem to know what a particular child needs to hear.
- 38Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneSchool Life is unfortunately committed to keeping its subjects, especially Headfort’s students, at arm’s length.