Umrika

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes Umrika has an approval score of 77% based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10.[6] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Umrika a "warmly intelligent film"[7] and included it in his 25 Films of note at Sundance 2015.[8] Dennis Harvey of Variety praised the film, giving kudos to "Nair’s soundly constructed script and deft handling of a very good cast."[9] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter stated Nair has managed to incorporate several big and abstract topics—including what ties us to our families and place of birth and the extent to which these things are important—into a story in which they become highly personal for the characters.[10] Nikola Grozdanovic of IndieWire gave the film a rating of C- saying that, '"Umrika" is ultimately a non sequitur story that, at worst, holds no weight, and, at best, makes little sense to someone born outside of Indian values and traditions.'[11] The New Zealand Herald gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, "It's a sobering watch and an interesting, if not outstanding, film."[12] Paul Byrnes of The Sydney Morning Herald gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Umrika achieves remarkable power as a story by concentrating its view of America through the eyes of people who have never been there."[13] Sharon Hurst of Cinephilia gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and said that, "Umrika captures the anomaly and paradox that is life in India. But it is also a finely wrought narrative that ticked enough boxes for it to be a crowd-pleasing winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2015."[14]