---
title: "Free Solo: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/free-solo/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/free-solo"
critics_score: 79
critics_reviews: 13
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."
---

# Free Solo (2018): what the critics said

Critics' score 79 from 13 reviews: 12 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative.

Most critics are won over: twelve of the thirteen reviews are positive, and the praise gathers in the same place. The climbing footage, shot by a crew hanging beside Honnold on El Capitan, is credited with producing real terror and suspense, and the final ascent is repeatedly named as the film’s strongest passage. Several reviews also welcome the decision to widen the frame, to Honnold’s childhood, to his relationship with his girlfriend, and to the crew’s own qualms about filming a man who might fall.

The reservations are scattered and mostly mild. The AV Club finds the attempts to explain Honnold’s motives pat; Variety thinks him a cold presence and the build-up overlong; The Hollywood Reporter senses a brand exercise beneath the vertigo. The spread is narrow but for one outlier: Little White Lies objects to the film’s celebration of masculine individualism and its casting of Honnold’s partner as an obstacle.

## The Times — Kevin Maher

Rating ★★★★★. 14 December 2018. 

The critic calls it a Trojan horse documentary that reveals much about human ambition, praising its psychological depth on Honnold's childhood and relationships alongside the thrilling climbing footage.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/free-solo-review-dfnvsxqp3)

## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2018. 

The review finds the film terrifying, dumbfounding and enthralling, singling out the powerful suspense of the climb and the way it draws viewers into the ordeal of facing extinction.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/b5965064-fe1b-11e8-ac00-57a2a826423e)

## IndieWire — David Ehrlich

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2018. Festival review. 

The stomach-churning documentary rivetingly captures one man's quest to climb El Capitan bare-handed. The filmmaking team delivers a strong, queasily effective look at the preparation and the climb itself.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/free-solo-review-alex-honnold-1201998821/)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 September 2018. 

Both intimate and expansive, the documentary is beautifully calculated to take your breath away with its account of Honnold's spectacular feat. Turan singles out the meticulous planning and personal glimpses of the climber's relationship with his girlfriend as elements that deepen the film beyond pure spectacle.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-free-solo-review-20180927-story.html)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 2018. 

The critic finds the documentary visually staggering and jaw-dropping, praising its intimate look at Honnold's intense free solo climb of El Capitan and the ethical dilemmas faced by the crew filming it.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/13/free-solo-review-alex-honnold-el-capitan-yosemite)

## Empire — Helen O'Hara

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 2018. 

The critic highlights the vertiginous, breathtaking climbing cinematography and the exploration of Alex Honnold's motivations, personality and relationships that heighten the sense of risk and tension in this passionate documentary.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/free-solo-review/)

## The New Yorker — Charles Bethea

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2018. 

The documentary examines how and why Honnold undertook his free solo of El Capitan, portraying it as a fascinating puzzle that brought him existential contentment. Bethea highlights the riveting final twenty minutes of stunning, fly-on-the-wall climbing footage as the film's most compelling element.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/recommends/watch/free-solo-a-documentary-about-the-hardest-climb-in-history)

## The Telegraph

Rating 4/5. 13 December 2018. 

The review describes a sweaty-palmed account of Honnold's impossible mission, highlighting the crew's qualms about filming the dangerous climb and the film's documentary-of-its-own-making quality.

[Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/free-solo-review-sweaty-palmed-account-one-mans-mission-do-impossible/)

## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf

Rating 4/5. 7 December 2018. 

The critic finds the documentary mesmerising and thrilling as it captures Honnold's death-defying ascent of El Capitan. It stands out for widening its focus to the emotional stakes for his girlfriend and the ethical dilemmas facing the filming crew.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/free-solo)

## The AV Club — Vikram Murthi

Rating B. 26 September 2018. 

Thrilling climb footage and process-focused segments reliably provoke awe and terror while highlighting the filmmakers' craft. The film is weaker when it attempts pat psychologizing of Honnold or explains his motivations.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/in-free-solo-thrilling-climb-footage-fights-for-time-w-1829334884)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2018. Festival review. 

The film is a gripping, vertigo-inducing portrait of Alex Honnold's daring climb of El Capitan without ropes. The critic praises the innovative camerawork that puts viewers right beside the climber but notes the hero's robotic demeanor and questions whether the documentary lingers too long on suspense before the main event.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/free-solo-review-1202917354/)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Keith Uhlich

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 August 2018. Festival review. 

The film is a white-knuckle experience that effectively builds tension through rehearsal footage and breathtaking photography of the climb. It occasionally feels like a NatGeo brand extension but raises worthwhile questions about the ethics of filming such a dangerous feat.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/free-solo-review-1137551/)

## Little White Lies — Aimee Knight

Rating 2/2/3. 12 December 2018. 

The critic views the documentary as troubling in its celebration of extreme masculinity and individualism, positioning Honnold's partner as an obstacle and questioning the universality of his drive. Breathtaking cinematography captures the vertigo-inducing climb, but the film ultimately explores fear more than bravery.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/free-solo)

---
© 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/free-solo.md