Although there's muted criticism here of military strategy, script endeavors to maintain a politically neutral stance, sticking to the ground soldiers' points of view, rendered convincingly here by cast and third-time helmer Joseph Cedar. full review

Clearly something has gone MIA in moving from the small pictures into a cohesive big one. full review

As long as soldiers have gone into battle they have struggled with the rightness of their actions and their purpose in the field -- no matter how firm their resolve at the outset. full review

[A] blistering antiwar film. full review

The camera never leaves the beleaguered compound, and Beaufort itself becomes a character in the story, a surrealistic zone of tunnels, bunkers and sandbags, about as far from the possibility of heroism as possible. full review

It makes an urgent case for the futility of most wars, which serve immediate political goals that afterward don't seem terribly important. full review

[Director Joseph] Cedar gives a surreal, dreamlike quality to many scenes, underscoring the soldiers' isolation. full review

Pro-war audiences on both sides will find Joseph Cedar's vision irresponsible. I think Beaufort captures a higher irresponsibility. full review

One of the strongest examples yet of a fearless new wave that has made Israel's cinema a force on the international scene. full review

The audience becomes disheartened long before the protagonist does, and so a full hour before the movie has ended, the audience has received the message, digested it and is ready for the fadeout. full review

Cedar, who was born in New York and now lives in Israel, has a mission of his own: to show the folly of war. He succeeds, even if the claustrophobic filming sometimes makes viewers feel as closed in as the Israeli troops. full review

Beaufort may be, strictly speaking, a war movie, but for long stretches it feels more like science fiction.

Adapting his spare, intense, award-winning film from the novel by Israeli TV programmer Ron Leshem, Joseph Cedar has created a movie of tremendous power -- nerve-racking, astute, and neutral enough to apply to all soldiers, in all wars, everywhere. full review

a profound exploration of identity, meaning and human struggles in all times and places. full review