★★★★
"Lovely.
With deadpan charm, Elene Naveriani maintains a slow-burning vibe that ripples with underlying humour and tensions. The characters are wonderfully real, while the film has a colourful, sardonic Kaurismäki-like quality that's thoroughly winning. And the underlying message is hugely empowering.'
Rich Cline, Shadows On The Wall
"The promise of romance changes everything in Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, the third feature from Elena Naveriani which paints an endearing, bittersweet portrait of an independent woman at the mercy of society’s entrenched expectations. An irresistible central performance from Eka Chavleishvili adds to the appeal of a film that should readily connect with audiences who embraced titles like Sebastian Lelio’s Gloria (2013)."
Allan Hunter, Screen International
"The title of Elene Naveriani's third feature makes poetry of natural imagery. If Ingmar Bergman hadn't got there first, it could just as easily have been called 'Autumn Sonata, focusing as it does on a solitary woman seemingly in the autumn of her life...who undergoes an existential awakening.
Naveriani's use of bold colours and deep shadow also recalls late-period Aki Kaurismäki, whose autumnally titled Fallen Leaves like Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, premiered at Cannes this year. Both films are about a solitary shop worker who embarks on a relationship in middle age; both films share a certain sense of timelessness, with few signifiers of modernity; both situate their romances in a gentle but unmistakable social critique. In Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, it's not so much capitalism under the microscope as gender conventions. All Etero's friends have settled down and procreated with their husbands."
Arjun Sajip, Sight & Sound
"A striking ode to female independence...
As an audience, we don't know what the future holds for Etero any more than she does, but given what we've seen over the last two hours, we know whatever happens. Next, she will embrace it with the same passion and persistence of vision with which she's always led her life. That is true independence."
Marya E. Gates, The Playlist
"The deliciously wry, gently unfurling tale of a middle-aged Georgian woman who rejects small-town conformity and experiments with love after a near-death experience."
Carmen Gray, The Film Verdict
★★★★
"Simple in its mysteriousness, Naveriani crafts an irresistible portrait of a lady. Georgian filmmaker Elene Naveriani solidifies her gravitational pull towards examining rural social misfits with her elegant sophomore film.
"A rich character study of a strong willed woman who relishes her independence...
Nicholas Bell, ION Cinema
★★★★
'Wry, sensuous and surprisingly subversive, this gentle middle-aged romance ...
A sharp, no-shit-taken performance from Eka Chavleishvili shows up her fierce hunger for freedom and gorgeous woodland trysts, rather than the wifely drudgery of village life.'
Kate Stables, Total Film
"A work of incredible depth, intelligent and intuitive, which can teach us a thing or two about finding pleasure in life, even if we think that ship has sailed.
A film as charming as its title suggests. At times contemplative and always exploratory...tells a bittersweet love story in order to present a much sweeter one of self-love."
Savina Petkova, Cineuropa
"Chavleishvili plays the commanding Etero with a dry wit, a piercing gaze, and an uncommon sensitivity.
The film’s final shot, a knockout scene happy to exist in the liminal space between dashed dreams and attained longings of a new lease on life and the unwanted ending of a chapter, is a well-spring of emotional ambiguity used as a vehicle for an incredible sense of awe by Chavleishvili. Like its protagonist, the spellbinding sensibilities of “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” are a treat to behold."
Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
"...In a harsh and judgemental world...this is a story that exceeds its love story status.
A counterpoint to the ordinary lives on show, the film’s production design also pops – bright greens and reds insist that life doesn’t have to be bleak. There’s optimism on screen, whether on the walls or in the mind of Etero, who is a quiet, radical force that flies in the face of convention. It doesn’t matter what age you are, Naveriani suggests. Pleasure and desire can strike us at any time."
James Mottram, Aesthetica magazine
"In Eto, Elene Naveriani has created one of the most memorable protagonists of the year, Chavleishvili’s performance among the best of the lot."
Rory O'Connor, The Film Stage
★★★★
"A meditative feminist subversion of a coming-of-age tale, spearheaded by a magnificent turn from Chavleishvili."
Andrew Murray, The Upcoming
