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
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
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
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