The President's Cake

Hadi stages the action here and throughout the movie with fluent energy.

Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
Names what the direction actually does, and the praise is attached to specific craft rather than to the film's subject.
quoted in Wikipedia, original not read by us

The President's Cake offers an astute, poignant story of empathy for humanity caught in the crosshairs.

Diane Carson, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Three separate performances assessed individually. Nobody writes that sentence about a film they did not sit through.
quoted in Wikipedia, original not read by us

Four stars out of five, praising the performances and the direction.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
His own published rating, converted straight across. We did not place this one.
rating as reported in Wikipedia

Both entertaining and compelling, but only if you know little about Iraq. The film rehearses known stereotypes and corresponds to little that is real.

Nabil Salih, Jacobin
A specific, checkable objection from someone with standing to make it. This is the review a score most needs and most often loses.
quoted in Wikipedia, original not read by us

The President's Cake stands as an example of a film which never manages to find a way to bring its different levels into balance.

Mansel Stimpson, Film Review Daily
Read in full. The argument is built across several paragraphs and names the scene it turns on, so it can be disagreed with precisely.
read in full