--- title: "All Quiet on the Western Front: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/all-quiet-on-the-western-front" critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 18 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # All Quiet on the Western Front (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 75 from 18 reviews: 14 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics are impressed. The reviews lean strongly positive, with fourteen of eighteen in favour, and the praise clusters on Berger’s battle scenes, which are found brutal, repetitive by design and free of heroics. Several single out the opening sequence following a dead soldier’s uniform as it is recycled, and the cutting between trench carnage and quiet, empty landscape. The photography, production design and sound are praised almost everywhere, and the German-language perspective is widely felt to reclaim the story for the country that produced the novel. The reservations are about what Berger adds and what he leaves out. The Los Angeles Times finds the armistice negotiation subplot an unnecessary distraction from the soldiers; Time Out feels the adaptation cuts too deeply into the book’s characters. The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire admire the craft but hear only a familiar reminder that war is hell. The spread is wide: Variety alone dismisses it as dull, competent and without emotional force. ## Radio Times — Stephen Applebaum Rating 5/5. The critic praises this as a brutal adaptation that does justice to the classic novel, instantly establishing its anti-war message through the recycling of soldiers' uniforms and staging battle scenes that reach new levels of horror while also capturing beauty, comradeship and the tragic loss of a generation. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-a927fd/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/) ## The AV Club — Matthew Jackson Rating A-. 26 October 2022. Berger’s adaptation is a powerful, bleakly honest and visually poetic take on the novel, emphasizing the human cost of war through visceral battles and quiet landscape framing. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/all-quiet-western-front-movie-review-2022-edward-berger-1849694837) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2022. The critic praises Berger's visceral and hard-nosed direction, which depicts trench warfare as a futile, repetitive horror machine with stunning production values that rival 1917. The film is lauded as a doom-laden, epic adaptation that powerfully conveys the wretched pointlessness of war. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2022. The critic finds it a powerful, eloquent and conscientiously impassioned German-language adaptation of the classic anti-war novel. The film is praised for its substantial, serious approach and expertly melded battlefield scenes, though noted as perhaps overly conscious of its own classic status. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/12/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-anti-war-nightmare-of-bloodshed-and-chaos) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 30 September 2022. The critic calls it a jaw-dropping, brutal and brilliant vision that movingly captures humanity amid the horror of the Great War, a leaner and more savage beast than previous adaptations. Smart Spielbergian grace notes and strong craft elevate the battle scenes, though the adaptation cuts too deeply into the book's character elements. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 2022. The critic praises the film's visceral realism and the power of its German-language adaptation but criticizes the inclusion of a subplot about the armistice negotiations as unnecessary and a distraction from the soldiers' experiences. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-10-27/review-all-quiet-on-the-western-front-netflix) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2022. Festival review. The critic describes a wrenching, visceral adaptation that illustrates war’s bloody repetitiveness through cross-cutting between the front lines and peace negotiations, bringing home the message of all war films in a straightforward way as a tough, accomplished endurance test. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-toronto-review/5174384.article) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2022. The critic highlights the film's intelligent references and inversions that expand on Remarque’s humanist plea, including the opening sequence tracking a recycled uniform and added negotiation scenes. It follows familiar technical choices from other recent war films but remains a powerful, visceral reminder of war's horrors on a continent again seeing young men sacrificed. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/all-quiet-western-front-horror-horror) ## Little White Lies — Finlay Spencer Rating 3/3/2. 13 October 2022. The film is viewed as a procedural and faceless exercise, interesting to observe but lacking originality in its brutality as the latest addition to Netflix’s war film landfill. Berger provides some nuance through the Brühl and Striesow subplot, but the overall result is a workmanlike, war-by-numbers entry that fails to find a harmonious balance. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front) ## IndieWire — Katie Rife Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 2022. Festival review. The remake is handsome and expected, delivering starkly beautiful imagery but adding little new to the anti-war canon beyond familiar points about the futility of conflict. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-german-remake-1234762459/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — John DeFore Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 15 September 2022. Festival review. Berger’s German adaptation is a skillfully made, visceral anti-war film that excels in photography and effects but offers little new beyond reminding viewers that war is hell. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-1235221454/) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2022. The review finds the film competently made but dull and lacking in dramatic depth or special flair, making its anti-war point repetitively without emotional impact. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-1235424169/) ## Collider — Maggie Lovitt Rating A. 17 October 2022. The critic finds Berger's adaptation a stunning, honest and devastating German take on the novel that avoids heroic narratives or positive outcomes, instead delivering a brutal yet non-voyeuristic portrait of war's horrors. It singles out the strong newcomer performance by Felix Kammerer, effective contrast between battlefield carnage and serene nature, and added historical elements underscoring war's shame. [Read the review](https://collider.com/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-daniel-bruhl/) ## Consequence — Clint Worthington Rating A-. 27 October 2022. The critic calls Berger's film a stark, visceral and urgent German adaptation with a singular purpose of hammering home the horrors of war through grisly detail and strong sound design. It praises the brilliant opening sequence and overall indictment of war while noting some streamlining of the book alongside needless complications. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2022/10/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-netflix/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 October 2022. The critic calls it something special among Oscar contenders and praises its gripping, lived-in quality with strong performances and exquisite cinematography that finds beauty in grim scenes. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## /Film — Sarah Milner Rating 9/10. 13 September 2022. Festival review. The film is a powerful, relentlessly bleak condemnation of war as a horrific waste of life, masterfully shot with the German perspective and a focus on the cycle of death and propaganda. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1006030/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-review-a-bleak-beautiful-anti-war-film-tiff/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2022. Festival review. The critic finds the film a strong and polished new German-language take on the classic novel that proves war is hell. He singles out the technical achievements in cinematography, production design, and score for praise. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2022/09/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-toronto-review-1235115734/) ## The Wrap — Steve Pond Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 2022. The critic calls the film a beautiful yet horrifying new adaptation that reclaims the anti-war story for Germany. He singles out its unflinching depiction of brutality from the German perspective and its visual spectacle. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-2022-movie-review-german/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/all-quiet-on-the-western-front.md