Critic Reviews

• Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

  True to its title, "Declaration of War" is a visceral, forthright visit to the front lines of battle, where superhuman courage is called for as life-or-death skirmishes turn into a long slog of survival.

• Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

  The subject matter is as serious as can be, yet the style is vibrant, energetic and engaging -- often tense, but without a trace of woe-is-me.

• Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

  "Declaration of War" movingly chronicles a unique and terrible fight: that of two parents against the cancer that has invaded the brain of their 18-month-old son.

• Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

  As ponderous and overwrought as a film hogged by a couple of young hipsters named Roméo and Juliette can be.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  The film may even be too upbeat, especially the ending, which is too easy and contrived. Yet there's real emotion here...

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  Declaration of War feels very present, very alive. And it's very much worth seeing.

• Erick Weber, NECN

  The raddest Lifetime movie you'll ever see.

• Jim Schembri, 3AW

  Touching, balanced and honest, the film imparts a life-affirming message about endurance, love and life's sudden gear shifts.

• Ed Gibbs, Empire Magazine Australasia

  Donzelli's film is an incredibly brave one, given its subject matter and biographical nature, and is presented in a creative yet digestible way.

• Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

  The underlying drama holds the film together even when self indulgence and the rawness of inexperience weakens the film

• John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

  Horror movies excepted, it's the rare film that suggests the presence of a child doesn't Make Everything Better, as if by magic.

• Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper

  The hippest kid-with-cancer movie you'll ever see.

• Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl

  ... feels like a parody of any number of light French comedies, one in which the most important point is that the central characters remain beautiful (and surrounded by charming and attractive friends) ...

• Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  The tonal shifts, the "Amelie"-style voiceover and the punk-retro soundtrack may jar some viewers who expect uninterrupted violins, but "Declaration of War" is alternative therapy that really works.

• Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  ...the most unique 'child with cancer' movie in the history of cinema. This is an audacious film, with obvious roots in the French New Wave, particularly Godard

• Shawn Levy, Oregonian

  You can sense the deep investment Donzelli and Elkaïm have in what they're doing, which isn't something you get at the movies every day.

• Alicia Potter, Boston Phoenix

  Taken as an assault against self-pity and sentimentality, this War puts up an involving, and ultimately thought-provoking, fight.

• Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press

  For all its narrative flourishes, what makes "Declaration" feel special is the intimacy and honesty of its depiction of good people leaning on each other as they try to hold it together.

• Matt Pais, RedEye

  Exhilarating ... a very, very good chronicle of something that can happen to anyone, and how to steer a ship when there's no turning back.

• Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com

  The personal weight of the story is abundant but as the title infers, Donzelli's film is not an ode to anguished soul-searching in the face of that most blunt notice of mortality.

Read all 21 critic reviews