Editing If.... (section)

===Critical reception===
''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' wrote: "A modern classic in which Anderson minutely captures both the particular ethos of a public school and the general flavour of any structured community, thus achieving a clear allegorical force without sacrificing a whit of his exploration of an essentially British institution. The impeccable logic of the conclusion is in no way diminished by having been lifted from [[Jean Vigo|Vigo]]'s ''[[Zero for Conduct|Zéro de Conduite]]'' [1933], made thirty-five years earlier. ''If...'' was also a timely film – shooting began two months before the events of May 1968 in Paris. Along with ''[[The White Bus]]'', it put Anderson into a pretty high league."<ref>{{Cite web |last=SG |date=2012-09-10 |title=If… |url=https://www.timeout.com/movies/if |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Time Out Worldwide |language=en-GB}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote: "Timely and timeless, this is a punchy, poetic pic that delves into the epic theme of youthful revolt.&nbsp;...The script has the expert blend of heightened reality and lyricism enforced by the brilliant direction and the playing of a cast of unknowns."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=11 December 1968 |title=If.... |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1505810185 |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |volume=253 |issue=4 |pages=30 |id={{ProQuest|1505810185}} |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'' gave the film 4/5 stars, writing: "With its surrealistic elements, it was something of a departure for ''[[This Sporting Life]]'' [1963] director Lindsay Anderson, but he succeeds in both capturing the atmosphere and absurdities of public school life and investing the satire with plenty of venom. Malcolm McDowell gives a blistering performance in what is a key film in British cinema history."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=[[Immediate Media Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=452}}</ref>

[[Leslie Halliwell]], dissenting from the general praise for the film, wrote that "Allegorical treatment of school life with much fashionable emphasis on obscure narrative, clever cutting, variety of pace, even an unaccountable changing from colour to monochrome and vice versa. Intelligence is clearly at work, but it seems to have suffered from undigested gobs of [[Harold Pinter|Pinter]], and the film as a whole makes no discernible point."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=594}}</ref>

On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a 90% approval rating based on 49 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. According to the site's critical consensus, "Incendiary, subversive, and darkly humorous, ''If....'' is a landmark of British countercultural cinema."<ref>{{Cite web |title=If.... (2009) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/if1968 |access-date=8 July 2022 |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |work=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]}}</ref>