--- title: "I'm Still Here: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/im-still-here/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/im-still-here" critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 26 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." --- # I'm Still Here (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 83 from 26 reviews: 23 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics receive this warmly, and nearly all of them name the same thing first: Fernanda Torres. Her performance as Eunice Paiva, the mother holding a household together after her husband is taken by Brazil’s military dictatorship, is praised across the reviews for its restraint. Walter Salles’s direction is admired for the tactile, lived-in picture of family life before the regime intrudes, and for keeping the drama intimate rather than turning it into a political thriller. The reservations are few and mostly about tone. The New Yorker finds the film idealised and airbrushed; Slant calls it hagiographic; The Playlist thinks it lacks urgency and plays like a museum exhibit; The Skinny and Empire find the unhurried pace drains momentum. Nobody is negative, and even the mixed reviews spare Torres. The spread is narrow, from good to admiring, with a small cluster feeling the film is too gentle with its subject. ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 19 February 2025. Walter Salles’s drama centres on a mother’s unwavering strength after her husband’s disappearance under Brazil’s dictatorship. The critic highlights Fernanda Torres’s phenomenal portrayal of motherhood as the film’s standout element. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/im-still-here-fernanda-torres-is-phenomenal-as-a-mother-on-a-mission-w9gt650j2) ## Evening Standard — Nick Howells Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 February 2025. The review calls the film a triumph of humanity that delivers both emotional embrace and gut punch. Torres's performance as Eunice is singled out as astounding and perhaps the best female performance of the year. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/i-m-still-here-review-fernanda-torres-walter-salles-b1211285.html) ## IndieWire — Leila Latif Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2024. Festival review. The critic describes a touching tribute to a family left adrift, with the film fortifying the legacy of Rubens Paiva through Walter Salles’ loving biopic. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-1235042776/) ## Los Angeles Times — Carlos Aguilar Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 2025. The critic lauds Torres’s subtle, internalized portrayal of maternal courage and resilience in the face of loss, noting how Salles contrasts the family’s initial joy with the regime’s intrusion to create a life-affirming drama. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-01-17/im-still-here-review-fernanda-torres-walter-salles-brazil) ## The AV Club — Manuel Betancourt Rating A-. 13 January 2025. The critic highlights Fernanda Torres’s revelatory restrained performance as the anchor of a humanist family drama that chronicles resilience and resistance under dictatorship without maudlin excess. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/im-still-here-review) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2025. Walter Salles’s fact-based drama follows the Paiva family after the father’s abduction during Brazil’s military dictatorship. The critic praises Fernanda Torres’s intelligent and emotionally complex performance as the mother who maintains hope and resilience for her children. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/23/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-fernanda-torres-phenomenal-true-life-saga-family-torn-apart-brazil-military-dictatorship) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2024. Festival review. The critic calls it a gripping, profoundly touching film with deep pathos and one of Salles’ best, praising the intimate lens on family resistance under dictatorship and Fernanda Torres’s eloquent restraint. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-fernanda-torres-1235989211/) ## The New York Times Rating Critic’s Pick. 16 January 2025. The critic praises the film as a beautiful, gutting portrait of a Brazilian family whose domestic bliss is shattered by the military dictatorship, highlighting Fernanda Torres’s stunning performance as the resilient mother Eunice. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/movies/im-still-here-review.html) ## Variety — Jessica Kiang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2024. Festival review. The review calls the film deeply poignant and moving for its focus on family resilience and Eunice’s quiet courage after her husband’s disappearance, captured through tactile, memory-like filmmaking and Torres’s superb performance. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-1236121390/) ## Sight and Sound — Nick James Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2025. The film retells the story of activist Eunice Paiva and her family under Brazil's military dictatorship, with Salles drawing on personal memories. Fernanda Torres delivers a restrained, totally convincing portrayal of the resilient matriarch. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/im-still-here-fernanda-torres-shines-walter-salles-brazilian-family-saga) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 February 2025. The critic praises Fernanda Torres's masterful, controlled performance as Eunice Paiva. The film is highlighted for its intimate, child’s-eye view of family life amid dictatorship and for capturing the mother's defiant joy and resilience. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/im-still-here-review-fernanda-torres-b2700872.html) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 17 January 2025. The critic praises Fernanda Torres’s marvelously internalized and subtle performance that grounds the film in emotional reality, making the family’s story heartbreaking through restraint amid political thriller elements. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-fernanda-torres-is-a-subtle-marvel-in-im-still-here.html) ## Financial Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 February 2025. Walter Salles’s Oscar-nominated film depicts the Paiva family’s life under military rule after the father’s abduction. The critic notes its timely portrait of authoritarianism and the family’s personal resilience amid historical darkness. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/fb162c08-fe6e-4e4c-b607-63727a9d5c03) ## Little White Lies — Rafa Sales Ross Rating 5/4/5. 20 February 2025. Salles returns to narrative filmmaking with a sensitive depiction of the forced disappearance of Rubens Paiva and the devastation faced by his family. Fernanda Torres gives an arresting, potent lead performance marked by containment and unshakeable intent. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/im-still-here) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2024. Festival review. Salles directs a superb factually-based film that is an engrossing, affecting tribute to a formidable woman and her family under military rule. Fernanda Torres gives a standout performance as the resilient matriarch Eunice. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/im-still-here-venice-review/5196729.article) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 10 September 2024. Salles delivers a personal and poignant vision of family life under Brazilian fascism, centering on a dogged woman determined to protect her family. The film blends family drama and political thriller while evoking an authentic sense of time and place. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/im-still-here-review-2024) ## Empire — Gavia Baker-Whitelaw Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 2025. The film is described as a sensitive portrait of family life under trauma but noted for its subdued tone that may limit impact outside Brazil. Fernanda Torres's understated lead performance receives particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/im-still-here-2025/) ## The New Yorker — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2025. The film movingly depicts a family torn apart by Brazil’s dictatorship through Eunice’s perspective and Torres’s restrained performance, but the critic finds it overly idealized and airbrushed in its humanist approach. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/the-political-drama-of-im-still-here-is-moving-but-airbrushed) ## Slant Magazine Rating 2.5/4. 9 October 2024. The critic finds the film’s affection tender but largely hagiographic, noting it reconstructs the family’s daily life immersively yet struggles to excavate deeper humanism beyond determining how history remembers them. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/im-still-here-review-walter-salles/) ## Collider — Emma Kiely Rating 9/10. 11 October 2024. The critic calls it one of the year's best films, a gut-wrenching yet celebratory account of a family's survival during Brazil's dictatorship. Fernanda Torres's lead performance is singled out as magnificent and Oscar-worthy. [Read the review](https://collider.com/im-still-here-2024-review/) ## Deadline — Stephanie Bunbury Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2024. Festival review. The film is ultimately a celebration of Brazil's resilience and spirit under tyranny, with a visceral sense of shock when the family's idyll is shattered. Fernanda Torres delivers an emotionally delicate performance as Eunice that should put her in the awards race. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/09/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-love-letter-to-brazil-is-a-warning-from-history-venice-film-festival-1236075262/) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Rating 4.5/5. 25 September 2024. Festival review. The critic praises the film's tactile, intimate portrayal of the Paiva family before and after the dictatorship's intrusion, highlighting Salles' attention to detail and Fernanda Torres' performance. It singles out the warm family dynamics and the seamless aging of the lead character. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/im-still-here-2024-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2024. Festival review. The film is an unflinching look at injustice paired with a compassionate portrait of one woman fighting it, grounded in rich humanity and everyday details of life under repression. Fernanda Torres captures every setback, joy and loss with grace in a quietly devastating performance. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/im-still-here-review-fernanda-torres/) ## Paste — Jason Gorber Rating 8.7. 8 February 2025. The review praises the film's powerful depiction of quiet resilience and one woman's fight for justice and truth under dictatorship. Torres's performance is highlighted as exceptional, though the ending is noted as slightly maudlin. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/im-still-here/im-still-here-review-fernanda-torres-oscar-nomination-chile-eunice-paiva) ## The Playlist — Marshall Shaffer Rating C+. 1 September 2024. Festival review. The review criticizes the film for its lack of urgency and bland historical drama approach, noting it feels like a museum exhibit rather than capturing the anguish. It praises Fernanda Torres' performance but faults the script for prioritizing plot over character development. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/im-still-here-review-walter-salles-renders-brazilian-injustice-as-bland-historical-drama-venice-20240901/) ## The Skinny — Josh Slater-Williams Rating ★★★. 17 February 2025. The critic highlights Fernanda Torres's intricate central performance as the film's strongest element. The unostentatious direction and unhurried pace benefit the acting but cause the surrounding film to lose momentum. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/im-still-here-review) --- © 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/im-still-here.md