Rotten Tomatoes
Suggestions will appear as you start typing. Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App New News Showtimes

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song Reviews

All Critics Top Critics All Audience Verified Audience
Amber Wilkinson Eye for Film Apr 3, 2023 3/5
The end result could do with less tangent and more of the gent himself.
Go to Full Review
Alistair Lawrence Common Sense Media Mar 15, 2023 3/5
Some of the film's most disarming moments involve Cohen's early years, as he initially struggles with the transition from poet to folk musician, then again as his U.S. label refuses to release the original version of the titular song.
Go to Full Review
Glenn Dunks The Film Experience Feb 2, 2023
The problem here is that Hallelujah, despite a rather unwieldly two hour runtime, spends far too long on things of little importance whenever it threatens to really dig into some of the thornier issues that the song and its commercialized success raise.
Go to Full Review
Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice Nov 21, 2022 5/5
The origin story of the spiritual song that has swept the world as a modern prayer.
Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Boulder Weekly Nov 3, 2022 3/5
Directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine assemble an impressive collection of interviews, a slew of archival material and more renditions of “Hallelujah” than you ever knew you needed.
Go to Full Review
John McDonald Australian Financial Review Sep 22, 2022
The song’s hymn-like, singalong nature has made it into one of the most all-purpose numbers of all time, used to invest any occasion with a touch of the sacred.
Go to Full Review
Linda Marric The Jewish Chronicle Sep 20, 2022 4/5
While there isn’t much here that fans won’t know, the film still makes for a riveting watch. As for those who are less familiar with the song or its original writer, this might prove to be a genuine eye-opener.
Go to Full Review
Xan Brooks Observer (UK) Sep 18, 2022 3/5
If this thorough, respectful documentary largely leaves its subject’s mystery intact, that’s probably for the best and what the singer would have wanted.
Go to Full Review
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) Sep 16, 2022 4/5
... A layered portrait of Cohen’s life (from poet to rock star to monk to comeback king) while always returning to the song that defined him.
Go to Full Review
Brian Viner Daily Mail (UK) Sep 16, 2022 4/5
For Cohen fans, it is... full of treasures.
Go to Full Review
Alistair Harkness Scotsman Sep 14, 2022 4/5
A film that subtly reclaims the song for Cohen and his fans while acknowledging its importance to those who know nothing about who wrote it or why.
Go to Full Review
Alison Gillmor Winnipeg Free Press Aug 30, 2022 4/5
The final tribute by k.d. lang – emotionally searing, musically soaring — made me weep. I wish there had been more.
Go to Full Review
Robin Holabird KUNR (Reno, NV) Aug 26, 2022
The songs hold up to the sustained study by their documentarians.
Go to Full Review
Loren King Newport This Week (RI) Aug 11, 2022
The documentary entertainingly charts the song’s subsequent journey from obscure but beloved ballad to an overused emotion trigger in movies, at weddings and at funerals.
Go to Full Review
Al Alexander The Patriot Ledger Aug 10, 2022 B+
The directors can’t seem to decide if they want the spotlight to be on Cohen or his signature song. The result is a tad frustrating, but the overall film is so entertaining, why not just throw up your arms and shout, “Hallelujah”?
Go to Full Review
Craig D. Lindsey Nashville Scene Aug 8, 2022
...the history of “Hallelujah” is just a small but fascinating section of Hallelujah, which spends most of its run time recounting Cohen’s life in a respectful, restrained manner.
Go to Full Review
Micheal Compton Bowling Green Daily News Aug 5, 2022 B
A film that works as both a retrospective for Cohen and an examination of the power of music.
Go to Full Review
Adam Graham Detroit News Aug 5, 2022 B+
... An engrossing portrait of an artist through the lens of his most famous and enduring work.
Go to Full Review
John Urbancich JMuvies Aug 5, 2022 3.5/5
Even with versions and tributes from artists such as Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Judy Collins, Brandi Carlile and many more, 'The Man' himself remains the ultimate star.
Go to Full Review
Douglas Davidson Elements of Madness Aug 5, 2022 3.5/5
The art belongs to us all, given new meaning as it travels from person to person, land to land, beloved with or without awareness of its source. If Geller and Goldfine are correct, then it’s not a broken hallelujah, but a reaffirmation of one ...
Go to Full Review
Load More
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings