--- title: "Stories We Tell: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/stories-we-tell/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/stories-we-tell" critics_score: 72 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." --- # Stories We Tell (2012): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 18 reviews: 15 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like Stories We Tell, and the praise gathers in one place: the way Sarah Polley turns her own family’s secret, and her mother’s charismatic, half-hidden life, into a film about how memory works. The interviews with siblings, friends and her father are singled out repeatedly, as is the reconstructed Super 8 footage that most reviewers find inventive rather than cheating. Several call it tender and funny, one or two note it plays like a thriller, and the general view is that Polley handles painful material without exploiting anyone. The reservations cluster around the framing. A few critics wonder whether the self-conscious business about documentary truth is needed when the personal story carries itself, and one finds the ending slightly off-message. Screen Daily thinks it loses focus at times. The Telegraph is the lone dissenter, arguing the film reveals little and that its much-discussed ambiguity never arrives. Otherwise the spread is narrow, with most reviews warm rather than ecstatic. ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 2013. The critic calls the film an invigorating powerhouse that is adventurous and fascinating. He singles out its exploration of truth, secrecy, memory, and family relationships as it peels back layers like an onion. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-stories-we-tell-review-20130517-story.html) ## The Times — Kate Muir Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 June 2013. Polley’s film is a fearless dumping out of the family closet as she exposes her charismatic mother’s secret life. The result is a resounding success, entangling the audience in the family’s emotions through interviews, narration and carefully edited footage. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/stories-we-tell-jgs2hgbblsv) ## Little White Lies — Adam Woodward Rating 5/4/3. 28 June 2013. Polley delivers a bittersweet and compelling autobiographical family portrait through interviews and faux-home movie footage. The critic praises its tender, candid exploration of truth and memory while noting it strays slightly off-message in the conclusion. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/stories-we-tell) ## Time Out — Cath Clarke Rating 4/5. 25 June 2013. This beautiful and funny documentary explores how families tell stories differently, with everyone remembering events in their own way. The critic highlights the thriller-like twists and the engaging way Polley lets family and friends recount her mother's story. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/stories-we-tell) ## The Independent — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 29 June 2013. The film is a subtle and complex personal investigation into family secrets and the reconstruction of the mother’s charismatic character. It succeeds as a feminist tribute and process of therapy despite some elaborate fakery. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/jonathan-romney-on-stories-we-tell-just-look-into-my-camera-and-tell-the-whole-truth-8679750.html) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 June 2013. Polley’s documentary blends real interviews and fabricated Super-8 footage to explore the need to tell and own stories about infidelity and family. It avoids pure narcissism by emphasizing the creative act of storytelling itself. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/stories-we-tell-film-review-8677946.html) ## Sight and Sound — Sophie Mayer Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2013. Polley revisits her mother and knotty family in this richly reflexive documentary that embraces feminist cinematic heritage. The critic singles out the innovative reconstructed Super 8 footage and the film's knowing reflexivity for praise. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-stories-we-tell) ## Slant Magazine — Nick McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 March 2013. Polley crafts a multi-perspective documentary about her family's secrets and her mother's life that prioritizes the slipperiness of memory over straightforward narrative. The critic highlights the film's success in capturing family dynamics through interviews, home movies, and self-reflexive techniques. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/stories-we-tell/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2013. The film is a tender, painful, intimate portrait of Polley's parents and a complex labour of love. It mixes genuine and reconstructed footage to explore the unreliability of memory while revealing more about the director herself than she may have realised. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/27/stories-we-tell-review) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 May 2013. The critic notes the film’s dazzling poise between obfuscation and epiphany in examining family stories and secrets. He singles out Polley’s artful use of old footage and interrogation of the confessional mode. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/05/20/only-human-3) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic’s Pick. 9 May 2013. The critic finds the documentary quietly moving and intelligent as Polley gathers family recollections about her late mother. She singles out the way the film examines how memories and stories shape personal history. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/movies/stories-we-tell-written-and-directed-by-sarah-polley.html) ## Vulture — David Edelstein Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 May 2013. Polley’s meta-documentary about her mother’s possible affair and family storytelling is engaging and heartfelt, with strong home-movie footage and multiple perspectives that ultimately align on the facts. The critic praises the personal story but questions whether the self-conscious framing about documentary truth was necessary. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/05/movie-review-stories-we-tell-sarah-polley.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2012. Festival review. Polley's tender and thoughtful documentary offers a candid portrait of family secrets and the ownership of memory through interviews, home movies and reconstructions. The critic praises the father's memoir narration but notes it lacks focus at times and feels uncertain about its purpose. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/stories-we-tell/5045826.article) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2013. Polley takes a sledgehammer to the family crypt in this cine-memoir but reveals disappointingly little. The film shifts focus to her biological roots and attempts a broader discussion about history and memory, but the much-vaunted ambiguity never materialises. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10146276/Stories-We-Tell-review.html) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating 9/10. 8 September 2012. Festival review. The critic praises Polley's thoughtful documentary for its complex exploration of truth, memory, and family stories through multiple perspectives. He singles out the film's mature handling of a personal family secret and its refusal to exploit or sensationalize the material. [Read the review](https://collider.com/stories-we-tell-review/) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). Polley probes family relationships, memory, fact versus fiction, and directorial control through her parents' stories and home movies. The work conveys raw emotion and the impact of revealing personal secrets. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/stories-we-tell-2012-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## HeyUGuys — Jamie Neish Rating 4/5. 24 June 2013. Festival review. Polley crafts a warm, layered personal documentary about her mother's life and family secrets through interviews, footage, and reconstructions. It feels like narrative cinema while exploring universal themes of storytelling and memory without bitterness. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/eiff-2013-stories-we-tell-review/) ## The Skinny — Jamie Dunn Rating ★★★. 28 June 2013. Polley’s documentary deconstructs the form with talking heads and archive footage while exploring the elusiveness of memory. The formal trickery does not dampen the emotional heft of this touching love letter from a daughter to her mother. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/stories-we-tell) --- © 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/stories-we-tell.md