“Fascinating... A quietly spectacular exploration of aging, outsider art, and cats.”
- Sam Adams, Indiewire“Arresting…queasy-making.”
- Glenn Kenny, The New York Times“An intriguing, narratively unpredictable work embracing a hornet’s nest of ethical issues.”
- Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune“One of the best documentaries of the year.”
- Tom Roston, POV’s Documentary Blog“Nuanced…sensitive…
complex.”
- John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter“Involving…compelling…ric
her, more troubling than the average outsider artist doc.”
- Benjamin Mercer, The AV Club“Emotionally charged…the documentary hones in on the ideas of community, about caregiving and giving care, about human nature and humanity, about parenting and becoming parents to the people we once called mom and dad. It is about surviving and survival — or to quote lyrics from another old standard, it’s about dusting yourself off and starting all over again. Because, as we learn from the song — and Peter Anton — nothing is impossible.”
- Miriam Di Nunzio, Chicago Sun-Times“Innerworldy…luminous…evocative.”
- Ray Pride, Newcity“A richer, more compassionate portrait.”
- Serena Donadoni, Village Voice“Almost perfect.”
- Christopher Campbell, Nonfics“A seemingly familiar character study of an aged outsider artist that becomes a thoroughly self-examining and open-ended rumination on filmmaker-subject complicity, responsibility, and purpose…It’s rare for a film to be both sincerely outwardly and inwardly focused, and pretty much unheard of for one to explore, as Almost There does, how they can be effectively the same thing.”
- Eric Hynes, Museum of the Moving Image’s Reverse Shot“A Midwestern Grey Gardens…Rybicky and Wickenden blend the sublimely weird with the rot of decades. It is art, for better or worse, infused with humanity.”
- David D’Arcy, Artinfo“Closely navigates Anton’s world with a buoyant and organic hand…The filmmakers use him as a lens to view humanity.”
- Donna K, Filmmaker Magazine“One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen.”
- Matt Fagerholm, Indie Outlook“Crumb-like, only more involved…”
- Nick Bradshaw, Sight & Sound Magazine / British Film Institute“…astonishes with just how much intellectual and emotional depth it’s capable of touching on in its 93 minute running time.”
- Rowe Reviews“Hilarious, heartbreaking and haunting…a brilliant piece of work and a must-see.”
- Jeff Manes, Post-TribuneAlmost There displays the vulnerability of both filmmaker and subject in such a way that process and product are woven together. As directors Rybicky and Wickendon unravel Peter Anton’s past, they allow themselves to become vulnerable to the audience as well, thus painting a complex portrait of the relationship between filmmaker and subject, art and life, and the joy of coming up from being down.”
- Amy Lee Ketchum, Tiny Mix Tapes“We want so badly for artists to be geniuses whose lives we can only dream of emulating. Almost There paints a different, more down-to-earth picture. Art is rarely made in a vacuum, no matter how remote or isolated the artist’s environment is.”
- Dmitry Samarov, Rust Belt Magazine“An undeniable provocation to more deeply consider the nature of documentary practice itself.”
- Michael Castelle, CINE-FILE“Almost There reveals how an individual can connect with others and follow his artistic obsessions despite adversity, even (or especially) if that adversity is himself.”
- Laura Adamczyk, The University of Chicago Magazine“Almost There poignantly tells the tale of community, responsibility, aging, and art.”
- Pamela Powell, Reel Honest Reviews
