--- title: "An Angel at My Table: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/an-angel-at-my-table/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/an-angel-at-my-table" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 7 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." --- # An Angel at My Table (1990): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 7 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly warm. Most critics respond to the way Campion tells Janet Frame’s story, from a poor rural New Zealand childhood through eight years in a mental institution to her release, in short, elliptical scenes that dwell on small domestic detail rather than the big events of a life. The praise clusters around the film’s restraint: gentle humour and compassion where melodrama might have been, an unsentimental eye for childhood anxiety, and the three actresses who play Frame at different ages, with Kerry Fox as the adult Frame singled out. The spread is narrow; nobody dislikes it. The reservations are about how much of Frame herself the film lets us see. The Los Angeles Times finds her too blankly enigmatic, never quite a full heroine. Slant Magazine thinks the film conveys the woman better than the importance of her writing. The Times, otherwise approving, finds it too long. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 21 June 1991. The film engrossingly records Janet Frame's life from childhood through institutionalization and eventual release, following a talented but shy girl misdiagnosed as schizophrenic. Campion tells the story with clarity, simplicity, and attention to human detail that draws the viewer in intensely. [Read the review](https://rogerebert.com/reviews/an-angel-at-my-table-1991) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1989. Campion delivers a touching and memorable biography of author Janet Frame, originally a TV miniseries, focusing on her misdiagnosis and years of shock treatment. The film imbues potentially harrowing material with gentle humor, great compassion, and vivid characters through short, elliptical scenes. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/an-angel-at-my-table-1117788722/) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 1991. Campion's adaptation gently portrays the prickly introvert Janet Frame, who endured eight years in a mental institution before repairing her sense of self. The film follows her from rural New Zealand poverty through middle age in a packed, elliptical style that emphasizes the minutiae of her life. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/archives/film-jane-campions-angel-is-another-quirky-soul.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic praises Campion's cinematic adaptation of Janet Frame's autobiographies, highlighting its unsentimental depiction of childhood anxieties and the thin line between normality and madness. It singles out the economically observed details and the portrayal by three actresses as profoundly moving. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/an-angel-at-my-table-1) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 2019. Campion upends biopic conventions with an impressionistic, brushstroke-like approach to character that benefits from the film's episodic structure. The film excels at intimate yet epic portrayals of the lead but falls short in conveying the significance of Frame's writing. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/an-angel-at-my-table-blu-ray-review-jane-campion/) ## Los Angeles Times — Peter Rainer Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 July 1991. The film is easier to take than Campion's previous work but remains too blankly enigmatic, with the central character never fully emerging as a rich heroine. Campion connects with Frame's fierce solitude in extraordinary moments that no one else could create, culminating in a humane core and a balm-like final scene. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-05-ca-1630-story.html) ## The Times — Patricia Nicol Rating 2 stars. 12 January 2003. The film sympathetically portrays Janet Frame's life from creative awakenings through misdiagnosis and to artistic success, with a superb performance by Kerry Fox as the adult Frame. Though too long, it is a rewarding work with original artistry. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/film-dvds-and-videos-6p5v78c8889) --- © 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/an-angel-at-my-table.md