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Stories We Tell

Play trailer Poster for Stories We Tell PG-13 2013 1h 48m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 145 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Through a series of revealing interviews, filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates the truth about her family history.
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Stories We Tell

Stories We Tell

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Critics Consensus

In Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley plays with the documentary format to explore the nature of memory and storytelling, crafting a thoughtful, compelling narrative that unfolds like a mystery.

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Critics Reviews

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Kerensa Cadenas Bitch Media Jan 15, 2021
Sorting through those secrets through Polley's candid interviews with her father, family members, and close family friends is fascinating to watch. Go to Full Review
Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) Dec 31, 2013
4/5
Deeply affectionate and sometimes very moving. Go to Full Review
Dana Stevens Slate Dec 31, 2013
If a personal memoir film by a beautiful, successful young woman from a nice Toronto family sounds to you like it can only be an excuse for self-absorbed navel-gazing, well, you must not have seen a Sarah Polley movie yet. Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film Aug 15, 2024
A-
The music is arranged by Jonathan Goldsmith and it's fantastic. Along with the fun camera work by Sarah, the music adds a nice touch to the film making the stories even more heartbreaking and compelling. It's good stuff. Go to Full Review
James Croot The Post NZ Apr 9, 2021
4/5
Surprisingly confessional and deeply compelling... The result is a story of great sadness, great joy and great entertainment. Go to Full Review
Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site Feb 27, 2021
Unfortunately, Stories We Tell lacks the historical sense, in keeping with most contemporary movies, that could have made it far more compelling. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Paul N @PaGeN Jun 28, 2025 This remains one of the most powerful and challenging documentaries I have ever seen. It pulls you in and slowly evolves its purpose. Asking the value of any one truth in the cannon of a family's story. By exposing her families truth and sharing all the associated pain, Sarah Polley gently pushes her family to face who they are and question who they want to be together. See more Thomas M @TMProofreader Nov 26, 2022 The best documentary movie ever made! See more May 29, 2022 I didn't find this interesting for a long time - narrated documentary about a marginally interesting character (outgoing woman, insecure, hopping from relationship to relationship, died of cancer) -- maybe if you're into mediocre soap operas, that would be good for you ... the purpose of the film only comes to light in the last 20 minutes, then it's more interesting. The point it makes has been made many times but it carries a different angle when it's a real story with real people. See more Lequisha S @RT34115658 May 3, 2022 Quite a ride. From early 2020. See more dave s @RT68722908 Sep 27, 2021 Sarah Polley digs deep into the family closet to uncover a long-buried secret withheld from her in the engrossing documentary Stories We Tell. Interviewing family and friends, it quickly becomes apparent that truth can be a nebulous concept as individuals present the facts as they perceive them. When the truth is finally revealed, it's an emotional gut punch that makes one question the nature of love and validates the importance of family. Interspersed with the interviews are 8mm clips of a seemingly healthy family dynamic. The fact that Polley apparently hired actors to play the roles of family members in some of these flashbacks isn't as detrimental as one would think – it is virtually impossible to distinguish between the real footage and the newly shot scenes. Stories We Tell is fascinating throughout and forces one to examine their own family history. See more Mar 19, 2021 Initially compelling but ultimately disappointing. Not as clever as it thinks it is. I enjoyed the mystery but got bored by the second half once the mystery was revealed. The movie purportedly examines memory but it failed to do that. And you're mislead to believe the home footage is real but it's fake. See more Read all reviews
Stories We Tell

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Movie Info

Synopsis Through a series of revealing interviews, filmmaker Sarah Polley investigates the truth about her family history.
Director
Sarah Polley
Screenwriter
Sarah Polley
Distributor
Roadside Attractions
Production Co
National Film Board of Canada
Rating
PG-13 (Sexuality|Brief Strong Language|Smoking|Thematic Elements)
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 10, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 5, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.6M
Runtime
1h 48m
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