Before the Rains
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: May 9, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Fatal culture clash, imperialist entitlement, forbidden passion between master and servant: the ingredients of the Indian director Santosh Sivan’s period piece Before the Rains may be awfully familiar, but the film lends them the force of tragedy. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Tells the kind of story that would feel right at home in a silent film, and I suppose I mean that as a compliment. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
As scripted by Cathy Rabin and directed by Santosh Sivan, Before the Rains is never less than compelling, but never more than adequately realized. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Sivan's film is well acted, beautifully photographed and oddly reassuring. It comes perilously close to suggesting that the injustices of colonial rule were the product of morally weak and misguided individuals rather than a system that empowered and enriched foreign interests at the expense of locals. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJulia Wallace
Saddled with a predictable lushness--even a streak of blood on a dirty window is aestheticized until it looks like stained glass--and the sensuality here can crowd out the sense. Still, director Santosh Sivan imparts a vastness and a sense of wonder to the film, qualities reminiscent of a Thomas Cole painting. Read full review
60
EmpireSam Toy
While the characters sometimes feel roughly drawn, the casting is spot on. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Producer Ismail Merchant died in 2005, but Merchant Ivory's stuffy tradition of quality lives on. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
It's more that the plot is incredibly predictable, the score is manipulative and the denouement completely unsatisfying. I can sit through cliched and even offensive (to a point). Just leave me with a little bit of mystery, an iota of suspense. That’s all I ask. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Pity that the direction and narrative lack passion. If there's anything a story of interracial adultery needs, it's passion. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The film's chief asset is its superbly atmospheric evocation of its period milieu. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The one appealing aspect of Before The Rains is that there are no villains, just three characters who are driven first by shared desires, then by a natural impulse for self-preservation that brings them into conflict. Read full review
50
VarietyEddie Cockrell
Tale of an idealistic local caught in the crossfire of an illicit affair is too pat and pretty to connect with upscale audiences. Read full review
50
Washington PostAdam Bernstein
A hodgepodge in the raj -- a predictable patchwork of forbidden romance, English arrogance, a gun given as a gift, suicide, corruption, deception, rising Indian nationalism and a short-lived chase through the jungle. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeEthan Gilsdorf
The competent, at times suspenseful Before the Rains orbits us along a trajectory of innocence corrupted, domesticity infested by politics, and local tradition messed with by a powerful Westerner. Unfortunately, that trajectory feels routine. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Sivan makes it all quite beautiful with verdant imagery and tastefully melodramatic direction, but at the cost of emotional and social ambiguities, not to mention living, breathing characters. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Yes, the Empire may be crumbling, and the natives getting restless, but it's all happening with such lyrical loveliness - even the corpses look good. Consequently, when the rains in Before the Rains finally arrive, there's nothing to cleanse, no real dirt to wash away - not with history already so neatly packaged and polished to a dull shine. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLoren Lankford
This period piece is exactly what you'd expect from a Merchant Ivory production: a tragic tale of love set against a backdrop of opulent scenery. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
As an extended metaphor on the perils of imperialism and the colonization of both land and heart, Before the Rains works just fine, but as a love story run afoul of the times, it's a soggy affair. Read full review
30
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
The story sounds great, on paper: It''s got interracial romance and betrayal, political and ethnic violence, and a faint feminist undercurrent. But the resulting movie is so pretty and so utterly lifeless you can almost smell the embalming fluid coming off the screen. Read full review
More From This Movie

47 Critic Reviews

6.0 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL