Critics reviews

[Tori and Lokita] is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting.

Across their filmography, the Dardennes have demonstrated a keen interest in character transformation, which is why their films so often build to moments of grace and forgiveness... No such moment is forthcoming in Tori and Lokita, which is to some degree exciting in the context of the Dardennes’ filmography, if somewhat flat in the context of the film itself.

“Tori and Lokita” is the angriest movie the Dardenne brothers have ever made... And like the best of their work, which this sobering return to form represents from its curious first shot to its furious last beat, its premise pulls tighter until even the simplest actions are endowed with breathless intensity.

Tori and Lokita is an (of course!) well-meaning but totally non-urgent work... the Dardennes’ indictment strikes me as strangely misguided, which would matter less if there were more to the film’s textures or urgency in its unfolding.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have made something suspiciously close to a thriller... For those masters of small-scale vérité social dramas, it’s such a bracing sensation to see them tiptoeing into genre terrain, you’ll forgive the fact that the villains are two-dimensional and that the ending is jarringly abrupt.

We find this time a more despairing Dardennes’ film than the redemptive hits of Cannes competitions past: Tori and Lokita is at once more brutal and more maudlin. Has the world changed or have they changed?

As dangerous as Tori and Lokita's ordeal gets, and as powerful and skilled as the filmmaking is, I couldn't shake a feeling that "Tori and Lokita" represents the Dardennes playing it safe... their social observations here have ossified into something like a formula.

The filmmakers are certainly making an impassioned political statement about humanity’s deep depravity, but it comes at the expense of the marginalized people it depicts... You may consider this an empathetic film — exploitative might be the better word.

Tori And Lokita is presented with a gritty realism to an extent so committed to its style that it backfires on itself. Despite the noble intentions behind this feature, it comes across as soulless and devoid of any sense of urgency or stakes when it comes to the children’s perilous situations, thus making it difficult to become invested in their struggle.

Nothing makes any sense in the Dardennes universe except relentless bad luck. This is what is infuriating about social realism: it’s so rarely realistic. It’s just melodrama wearing jeans.

There is a simplicity and clarity of purpose [in Tori and Lokita] that I responded to and the Dardennes have got excellent performances from their young leads.

[Tori and Lokita] is unspeakably heartbreaking. But it works beautifully because, like some clever mousetrap in its own way, every detail, performance and bit of craftsmanship is executed with unfussy perfection.