Critics divided on Tom McCarthy's climate drama 'A Statement' at New York Film Festival

Mixed · 2Tom McCarthy's film 'A Statement' had its world premiere at the 2026 New York Film Festival, and Sony Pictures Classics is its distributor. 1 2 Mixed · 2The film dramatises a real 1980 gathering at a Florida beachfront hotel, in which academics, scientists, officials and environmentalists were asked to agree a statement on carbon dioxide emissions and advise Congress. 1 3 Left · 3McCarthy co-wrote the screenplay with Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré, adapting Nathaniel Rich's book 'Losing Earth'. The conference scenes use the actual transcripts of the meeting. 1 3 2

Mixed · 2The cast includes Paul Rudd as moderator Thomas Jorling, Paul Giamatti as Department of Energy official David Slade, John Turturro as M.I.T. nuclear engineer David Rose, Amy Ryan, Evan Peters as Friends of the Earth's Rafe Pomerance, and Jason Clarke. 2 1 Left · 2The conference ended without an agreed statement. IndieWire says a title card at the end reveals this, and Variety flags it with a 'spoiler alert'. 2 3 Centre · 1Deadline's Pete Hammond called the film 'splendid', 'a gem' and 'a feel good movie in its own peculiar way'. He said it avoids being a polemic through its cast and its focus on the participants as people, and he compared it to '12 Angry Men'. 1

Left · 1IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio described a 'zippy, at times tedious, and altogether beige-colored' seriocomedy that is 'sobering, if muted'. He praised its treatment of language failing to produce agreement but criticised its thin portrayal of women and a first half that 'blows a lot of hot air'. 2 Left · 1Variety's Owen Gleiberman said he watched with 'seriously divided feelings'. He found the film 'talky and flat' and 'like an endless magazine article in movie form', and predicted a small audience. He did credit it for showing how much was already known about climate change in 1980, and he regretted that its nuclear-power debate is dropped. 3 Left · 3Two reviews tie the film to current politics. Deadline says the film arrives as the U.S. has twice left the Paris Climate Agreement, and IndieWire says the current administration withdrew again this year. Deadline and Variety both mention Alejandro G. Iñárritu's 'Digger', with Variety saying it, too, seems to be about 'members of the Hollywood community signaling their concern'. 1 2 3