Critic Reviews

• John Hartl, Seattle Times

  An unexpectedly droll tale about a funeral, "Nora's Will" demonstrates the power of some people to reach beyond the grave.

• Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

  This is a very wise film, without any stench of didacticism: Through it all, the abiding power - like the strong force of an atomic bond - is not love exactly, but relationship, the net that wraps us all together and holds us fast.

• Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

  Lujan does what only the best actors can -- infusing the slightness not with actual substance but at least with the idea of substance, with a road map to where the writer could have located it. In Nora's Will, his performance points the way.

• Bruce Demara, Toronto Star

  In her feature film debut, Mexican writer/director Mariana Chenillo has woven a genuine charmer, tartly funny and irreverent yet warm and poignant, a testament to enduring love.

• Ty Burr, Boston Globe

  The tone is tricky, sliding along a tightrope of farce and wistfulness, but Luján especially walks it like a pro, his ruined leonine face registering cynicism, shock, and the embarrassment of grief.

• Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

  Chenillo doesn't have a galvanic visual style but her film is filled with small, observant moments when the humanity of these people peeps through the low-key shenanigans. It's a bittersweet farce.

• Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl

  Luján, a veteran of over 100 Spanish-language movies and television programs,... finds just the right tone to make José's dilemma both poignant and humorous.

• Emily S. Mendel, culturevulture.net

  Nora's Will is character-driven, with universal themes of family, religion, love and reconciliation

• Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly

  Although there are conflicts and revelations, the movie takes a low-key approach to it all.

• Michele Kenner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  Yes, you read that right: Jewish suicide comedy.

• Norman Wilner, NOW Toronto

  Nora's orchestrated suicide may have been a clever gimmick on the page, but onscreen it's a profoundly s----y thing to do to her loved ones.

• Adam Nayman, eye WEEKLY

  Chenillo is a smart filmmaker, but the film is too tidy. Maybe next time out, she'll really get her hands dirty.

• Emily S. Mendel, culturevulture.net

  ... a complex, nuanced, darkly amusing, yet poignant film.

• Marc Mohan, Oregonian

  Softly rendered by Mariana Chenillo, the first woman to win a Mexican Academy Award for best director, and the quotidian rhythms are reminiscent of the recent Italian film "Mid-August Lunch."

• James Verniere, Boston Herald

  Another film about a family meal, "Nora's Will' is a fascinating glimpse into a Mexican-Jewish community and a nicely told, more-than-slightly twisted fable of love.

• Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix

  Chenillo maintains a tone of gentle absurdity until the sentimental ending.

Read all 16 critic reviews