--- title: "Sound of Falling: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/sound-of-falling/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/sound-of-falling" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 22 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." --- # Sound of Falling (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 22 reviews: 19 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Sound of Falling, praising Mascha Schilinski’s direction and its account of suffering across generations of women. Praise centres on the drifting camerawork, intricate shifts in time and sound design, which connect the women’s experiences and create a persistent sense of unease. The fragmented storytelling is widely seen as emotionally revealing, while Slant Magazine also singles out Lena Urzendowsky’s complex performance as Angelika. The reservations concern patience, clarity and the film’s unrelenting bleakness, with a wide gap between the enthusiastic majority and a small mixed minority. Even admirers acknowledge that the slow pace and elusive plot can frustrate. The Wrap finds the complexity and fatalism overbearing despite admiring the visual flourishes. Collider makes the sharper objection that the women are reduced to their trauma without enough being said about it, though it still praises the sensory direction. ## Evening Standard — Nick Howells Rating 5/5. 6 March 2026. Howells calls the film a startling, hauntingly beautiful work and a singular coming-of-age tale. He especially praises its breathtaking imagery and the uncanny details that linger in the memory. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/sound-of-falling-film-review-mascha-schilinski-b1273707.html) ## Time Out — David Hughes Rating 5/5. 18 February 2026. The review calls the film stunning, praising its heady blend of superstition and folklore. It singles out the way transgenerational trauma and repressed sexuality flow through the story. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/sound-of-falling-review-2026) ## Sight and Sound — BFI Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2026. The critic calls the film brilliant, horrifying and breathtaking, despite its difficult subject matter. They praise its exquisitely controlled, fragmented form for making patriarchal violence across generations feel like a relentless cycle. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/sound-falling-theres-no-escape-from-patriarchy-this-exquisitely-crafted-tale-german-women-through-time) ## Vulture — Alison Willmore Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. Willmore calls the film astonishing and says it sets a high bar for the Cannes competition. She praises its impressionistic, intimate approach to four generations of women and their often-unrecorded experiences. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-sound-of-falling-is-already-the-best-movie-at-cannes.html) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Rating A-. 12 January 2026. Festival review. Ehrlich praises the film as a mesmerizing, emotionally rich portrait of recurring girlhood pain across generations. He singles out its haunting use of sense memory and its prismatic, time-folding style. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/sound-of-falling-review-1235122968/) ## Los Angeles Times — Tim Grierson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2026. The critic calls the film an astonishing, elusive marvel that transforms its viewer. He praises its spectral cinematography and deftly interwoven portraits of women across generations. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-01-23/sound-of-falling-review-germany-mascha-schilinski) ## Screen Daily — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. The critic calls the film a striking, thrillingly ambitious work and says it announces Schilinski as a director of note. She especially praises the assured direction, visual beauty and soundscape that binds the generations’ stories. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/sound-of-falling-review-trauma-seeps-through-a-century-of-womens-lives-in-rural-germany/5204756.article) ## The AV Club — Katie Rife Rating A-. 16 January 2026. Rife finds the film transcendentally beautiful, though its slow, rigorous approach may test some viewers’ patience. She praises the exquisite visual style and haunting sound design for creating its dreamy, unnerving atmosphere. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/sound-of-falling-review) ## The New Yorker — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 2025. Chang praises the film as disorienting, enveloping, and brilliantly crafted. He singles out Schilinski’s shifting camera and time structure for making the story’s generational traumas feel newly vivid. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/the-ghosts-of-girlhoods-past-in-sound-of-falling) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. The critic calls the film an astonishing, ambitious achievement that marks a major step forward for Mascha Schilinski. They praise its intricate intergenerational storytelling and its carefully crafted visual and sonic atmosphere. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/sound-of-falling-review-1236397013/) ## Slant Magazine — Pat Brown Rating 3.5/4. 12 September 2025. The review finds the film haunting and poetic, portraying the past as an onerous weight on the present. It praises Lena Urzendowsky’s complex portrayal of Angelika and the film’s visual and audio motifs linking generations. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sound-of-falling-review-mascha-schilinski/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jordan Mintzer Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. Mintzer calls the film a transfixing, audacious work that rewards patient viewers, though its fragmented structure may frustrate those seeking a clear plotline. He praises Schilinski’s visual connections across generations and her portrait of young women carrying their forebears’ histories. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/sound-of-falling-review-mascha-schilinski-1236214409/) ## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong Fi1m's normalised score 78/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. Strong finds the film ambitious, compelling and willing to trust its audience despite its deliberate opacity. She particularly praises its atmospheric cinematography and the way it evokes the women’s shared histories. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/festivals/sound-of-falling-first-look-review) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. Bradshaw finds the film powerfully unsettling, dense with fear and sadness. He singles out its clammy atmosphere, created through drifting camerawork and a throbbing, disquieting soundtrack. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/14/sound-of-falling-review-cannes-film-festival) ## The Observer — Xan Brooks Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2025. Festival review. Brooks praises the film as elegant, studied and pitiless. He singles out its folding of a century of family history to illuminate women’s lives on a harsh German farm. [Read the review](https://observer.co.uk/culture/the-critics/article/cannes-2025-a-misfire-then-cruise-control) ## Film Comment — Shonni Enelow Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. The dispatch presents the film positively as a bracing treatment of a recurring image. It singles out its literalist approach to the self-drowned woman, discussed alongside The Currents. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/hair-and-water-sound-of-falling-the-currents-review/) ## Deadline — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. The critic calls the film an exhilarating, all-time-great achievement, though it can be frustrating and challenging. He praises its hypnotic atmosphere, restless camerawork, and distinctive sound design. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2025/05/sound-of-falling-review-mascha-schilinski-cannes-film-festival-1236397207/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 September 2025. The critic praises the film as a powerful, inventive portrait of women’s lives and memories across generations. She especially singles out its haunting imagery of eels and the way the farmhouse’s spaces carry echoes of past suffering. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/sound-of-falling-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## The Skinny — Eleanor Capaldi Rating ★★★★. 2 March 2026. The review finds the film an intricate and oppressive exploration of generational trauma. It praises the child’s point of view and the way the film’s interwoven timelines reveal hidden truths. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/sound-of-falling) ## The Playlist Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. The article appears to be a review, but its text is unavailable, so the critic's verdict cannot be established. No specific praise or complaint can be reliably identified. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/sound-of-falling-review-the-body-keeps-the-score-in-mascha-schilinskis-hotly-anticipated-competition-contender-cannes-20250514/) ## Collider — Emma Kiely Rating 5/10. 14 May 2025. Festival review. Kiely finds the film excessively grim and argues that it reduces its characters to trauma without developing a meaningful message. She praises Schilinski’s sensory direction, especially the sound design and shifts in perspective. [Read the review](https://collider.com/sound-of-falling-review/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2025. Festival review. The critic finds the film intriguing but overburdened by its complexity and fatalistic tone. They praise its visual flourishes, including match-cuts, visual echoes and bravura long takes. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/sound-of-falling-review-cannes-competition-kicks-off-with-a-time-hopping-mood-board/) --- © 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/sound-of-falling.md