The Search

2014

2h 29m

Drama

War

List

20%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

53%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

A 9-year-old orphan (Abdul Khalim Mamatsuiev) and a Russian soldier (Maxim Emelianov) encounter the horrors of war.

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Critics Consensus

Though well-intentioned, The Search has the timbre of a soporific lecture on the horrors of the Second Chechen War and is delivered with the subtlety of an RPG.

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Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

The French director's follow-up to his Oscar-winning silent movie comedy, The Artist, is everything The Artist was not: long, unoriginal and heavy-handed.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 12, 2015

Full Review

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Young Hadji's silence gives The Search what lasting power it possesses.

Rated: 2/4

Mar 12, 2015

Full Review

Radheyan Simonpillai

NOW Toronto

After winning the Oscar for his glorified trinket The Artist, Hazanavicius throws a spotlight on human rights horrors. His well-intentioned children-in-peril story, set during the second Chechen war, is periodically moving but unwieldy and heavy-handed.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 12, 2015

Full Review

Diego Batlle

Otroscines.com

The film has a clear political and conscientious bent, but it does it in such a clumsy, obvious, didactic, boring and manipulative way that the artistic result is disappointing... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 1.5/5

Jun 22, 2023

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

The Search is an ungainly dose of good intentions that undercooks and over bakes.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 30, 2019

Full Review

Blake Williams

Cinema Scope

The Search is what happens when winning awards supersedes making cinema.

Nov 18, 2017

Full Review

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vykintas g

Great movie. Really sad it was so underrated.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Stunning movie not for the faint of heart. Someone plodding yet engaging and like any good European movie It develops slowly.... yet Once you're in you're hooked. This is the collateral damage of War on the soul of humanity.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I agree the film may be biased against the Russians, but isn't that the way the West treats the Russians all along? Great performance from the little kid.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Thought it would be boring. Despite melodramatic, it's kinda effective.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Search captures the brutality and horrors of war while succumbing to heavy handed storytelling that amounts to an exhaustive, dreary film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

No es el mejor trabajo de Michel Hazanavicius. Llena de facilismos, y un drama sin profundidad plagado de clichés, este trabajo merece quedarse guardado en el cajón del olvido.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

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Michel Hazanavicius

Director

Bérénice Bejo

Carole

Annette Bening

Helen

Maksim Emelyanov

Kolia

Abdul Khalim Mamatsuiev

Hadji

Zukhra Duishvili

Raïssa

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Synopsis

A 9-year-old orphan (Abdul Khalim Mamatsuiev) and a Russian soldier (Maxim Emelianov) encounter the horrors of war.

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Producer: Michel Hazanavicius, Thomas Langmann
Screenwriter: Michel Hazanavicius
Production Co: Search Production, Orange Studio, La Petite Reine, France 3 Cinéma, Sarke Studio, La Classe Américaine, Wild Bunch
Genre: Drama, War
Original Language: French (France)
Runtime: 2h 29m