Natasa STORK
Variety
By Jessica Kiang
‘Stork’s performance, meanwhile, riveting, shrewd and unknowable, has more in common with the women of modern European cinema: She is a Kieslowski heroine, styled, with her movie-star hair and sharp tailoring, as a modern noir throwback, rendered in the bold hues of a Douglas Sirk picture.’
The Telegraph
By Tim Robey
‘Stork’s performance has a steely-eyed composure, an armoured quality, which keeps prevailing.’
‘Close-ups on the unyielding planes of Stork’s face may remind you how Juliette Binoche or Irène Jacob made their careers in similar roles, searching for meaning on the paving stones of Europe’s capitals.’
The Guardian
By Mark Kermode
‘Natasa Stork is quietly charismatic as Márta Vizy, a Hungarian neurosurgeon who has carved out a respectable career in the US.’
‘But it’s Stork who carries the film, drawing us deep into Márta’s kaleidoscopic world, her piercingly quizzical expression challenging us to solve the puzzle of her experience, or perhaps daring us not to.’
Los Angeles Times
By Justin Chang
‘I am referring to the calm, otherworldly countenance of its protagonist, Dr. Márta Vizy, which is to say the actor Natasa Stork, whose coolly appraising gaze might be the most extraordinary visual effect, digitally manufactured or otherwise, I’ve encountered in recent movies. Márta’s piercing blue eyes may be the windows to her soul, but their power is directed as much outward as inward. Without saying a word — indeed, by drawing on the innate power of stillness and silence — she transforms the very act of looking into a source of considerable suspense, sensuality and excitement.’
NPR
Heard on Fresh Air
‘Stork gives an extraordinary performance as Márta, her piercing, intelligent gaze sometimes shot in wordless closeup. Her eyes aren't just windows to her soul; they reveal the inner workings of a genuinely beautiful mind.’
Boston Globe
By Ty Burr
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/20/arts/plans-go-awry-preparations-be-together-an-unknown-time/
‘Writer-director Lili Horvát, whose second feature this is, has previously worked as a casting director, and by far her new film’s strongest asset is lead actress Natasa Stork, playing a tightly wound woman whose grip on reality is loosening.’
‘“Preparations” rests almost entirely on Stork’s shoulders, however. Rarely showing any emotion aside from mild concern, the actress suggests a maelstrom of emotions lurking beneath the skin of this tidy, chic medical professional.’
Variety
By Leo Barraclough
https://variety.com/list_item/natasa-stork-hungary/
‘Stork is “an intoxicating and enigmatic presence in the film,” the jury said, “displaying remarkable aplomb for an actor taking on her first lead role in a feature film.” They added: “Her elegance and sense of mystery underscore the film’s noirish elements, as she creates a striking and layered character which attests to her great potential as an actor.”’
The Hollywood reporter
By Stephen Dalton
‘Horvat and Stork have done such subtle work in humanizing Marta and dismantling the sexist scaffolding around femme fatale tropes’
The Wall Street Journal
By Joe Morgenstern
‘What I recall most vividly isn’t the letdown but a host of hypnotic moments leading up to it, and the intensity of Ms. Stork’s performance.’
The Irish Times
Best films of 2021: Irish critics name their favourites
Best Actress:
1 Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth; Nomadland
2 Kristen Stewart, Spencer
3 Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
4 Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
5 Natasa Stork, Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
6 Jodie Comer, The Last Duel
7 Deragh Campbell, Anne at 13,000 Ft.
8 Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
9 Claire Dunne, Herself
10 Youn Yuh-jung, Minari
Screen Slate
By Dana Reinoos
‘As Márta, Natasa Stork is reminiscent of Isabelle Huppert: all red lips and beautiful, placid exterior with a wild sea of roiling emotions just under the surface, threatening to reveal themselves at any moment. Horvát’s camera adores Stork; she’s luminous whether under the sterile hospital lighting or in the near-darkness of her apartment. Together, Horvat and Stork have created a restrained, cerebral melodrama, and an enigmatic portrait of a woman willing to throw everything away for a ghost.’
ScreenDaily
By Allan Hunter
‘Natasa Stork’s cool, restrained performance perfectly captures the sense of an intelligent, rational woman moving closer to the edge of a precipice.’
AwardsDaily
By Zhuo-Ning Su
‘Aided by Stork’s restrained, enigmatic performance, Horvát has crafted an atmospheric, well-paced mystery drama that defies expectations and thoroughly intrigues.’
London Evening Standard
By Charlotte O'Sullivan
‘awesome newcomer Natasa Stork’
Little White Lies
By Elena Lazic
https://lwlies.com/reviews/preparations-to-be-together-for-an-unknown-period-of-time/
‘Stork’s bright and clear face, a small polite smile perpetually on her lips, is in a medical context the image of scientific precision, a reassuringly imperturbable visage to see when awaiting a potentially life-threatening diagnosis, as several characters do in the film. But when she is alone, in the streets of Budapest or in the dilapidated flat she has rented, Márta’s stillness comes to suggest a person completely detached from her surroundings and isolated in her loneliness.’
812FILMREVIEWS
By Robert Daniels
‘by way of Stork’s hypnotic performance, our perception of whether the ailment known as falling in love is worth the bitter medicine that comes afterwards is told‘
Austin Chronicle
By Josh Kupecki
‘Natasha Stork’s performance is the anchor here, one that is beguiling in its Sphinx-like unreadability. Every slight emotional tell she conveys is another chance to discover a signpost as to what, exactly, is happening here.‘
Indiewire
By Ryan Lattanzio
‘Natasa Stork, a soothing and appropriately impenetrable presence’
Ioncinema
By Nicholas Bell
‘Natasa Stork has appeared in minor supporting roles in several films from Kornel Mundruczo, but Horvat’s film mines her as a significant discovery’
‘Stork has a classically arresting visage, recalling the likes of a Lili Taylor or Dolly Bell in her beauty.’
The Film Stage
The best performances of 2021
Honorabe mention: Natasa Stork (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time)’
Filmuforia
By Meredith Taylor
‘But Stork steals the show, hard-edged and soulful in equal measure.‘
Slant
The 50 Best Films of 2021
49. Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time’