74
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicThe PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicIt's a wonderful thing to experience a film unshackled from Hollywood conventionality and unburdened by the necessity for simplistic storytelling.
- 80CineVueEd FranklCineVueEd FranklQuemada-Díez filmed The Golden Dream chronologically using natural light and real locations, utilising Super 16 film to give his first feature a documentary shimmer. He also worked as a camera operator on Alejandro González Iñárritu's 21 Grams (2003), with whom he shares his penchant for opulent landscapes and narratives, and a sense of beauty amidst unforgiving reality.
- 80EmpireEmpireA tough yet tender and beautifully crafted human drama that more than earns those Loach comparisons.
- 80Time Out LondonDave CalhounTime Out LondonDave CalhounDirector and co-writer Diego Quemada-Díez condenses many acute observations about life as an emigrant into a sure-footed, credible story.
- 80Total FilmKevin HarleyTotal FilmKevin HarleyYou root for them as they bond, bicker and endure grim dangers – gangs, traffickers, police – but Quemada-Díez doesn’t play soft, and the stinging climax really sticks with you.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleThe movie exists in a space beyond arguments about immigration policy and border security, and while sometimes a little too willfully pokey, it speaks to something indelibly human about dreams and their costs.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThough it takes some work to engage with the characters at first, the journey makes a powerful impact.
- 70Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlFor all its heart and strong performances, there's little new here. Still, the ending is perfect, triumphant and heartbreaking all at once, demonstrating that Quemada-Diez gets the reality of U.S. life.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungThe Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungThe Golden Cage (La Jaula de oro) is a lukewarm examination of a hot-potato political issue.