Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Argot Pictures | Release Date: May 14, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The Japanese love affair with insects takes many forms, but most of them are, by Western standards, exotic. To Oreck's credit, she doesn't attempt to play down the exoticism by pretending to go native. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin Chang
Eschewing character arcs and talking heads in favor of a more poetic approach, this lyrical exercise in avant-garde entomology is the work of an intuitive filmmaker with an often hypnotic sense of composition. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A delightfully weird, if occasionally too arty, documentary as darting in its structure as a dragonfly's flight. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
By movie’s end, you see flocks of umbrella-adorned commuters in a different light; and what’s often viewed as Japanese humility becomes a doorway to something huge and eternal. Bring the kids. Read full review
80
Village VoiceEric Hynes
There's enough wisdom in this appropriately compact film to suggest avenues of further, though likely not as wondrous, inquiry. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
More essay than documentary—and by no means a monster movie--Jessica Oreck’s Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo takes a closer look at the Japanese obsession with insect-collecting, and considers it as a partial explanation of the country’s national character. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
A documentary that is often told in adages, riddles and poetry. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
I’m not wholly clear on the link between a jellied green thing wriggling along a tree branch and the oneness of life, but Shinto Buddhist ruminations sound good in almost any context, and the film is entrancing. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
There's no shortage of fascinating segments. Read full review
70
The New York TimesMike Hale
The diverting Beetle Queen, like “Lost in Translation” or Takashi Murakami’s art, says less about Japan than it does about America’s continuing fascination with modern Japanese culture. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineJohn P. McCarthy
An entomologist's delight, Jessica Oreck's movie about Japan's insect mania is worth watching even if you're repulsed by creepy-crawlers. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary Goldstein
A meditative piece that is by turns hypnotically beautiful and painfully slow. It's the kind of film perhaps best appreciated in smaller doses, in the same way bench rest can help sustain a tiring museum visit. Read full review
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