Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
Cinelicious Pics | Release Date: May 6, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovMay 2, 2016
Eiichi Yamamoto's cult anime strikes a perfect balance between midnight-movie enchantment and arthouse sophistication. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 5, 2016
There's an undeniable genius at work here, strong enough to survive the psychedelic sleaze that's been baked into every frame. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMay 5, 2016
Perhaps too ambitious for its own good (or at least its budget), the film is impossible to dismiss, even if it exhausts its reserve of ideas. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 11, 2016
The artwork is achingly delicate, but there's nothing subtle about Belladonna of Sadness, a blast of psychedelic madness full of rape, tyranny and Satanism. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 5, 2016
Belladonna of Sadness is compulsively watchable, even at its most disturbing: The imagery is frequently graphic, and still, after over 40 years, it has the power to shock. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiMay 11, 2016
For those up for an adventure into the LSD-influenced world of counterculture animation, Belladonna of Sadness is a curious artifact that, after 43 years, remains a glorious mindf--k. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenJun 23, 2016
A virgin, defiled. A pact with the devil, consummated. Erotomania, running wild. It’s Belladonna of Sadness, and in it there will be blood. And watercolors. Read full review
75
The Film StageAmanda WaltzMay 7, 2016
For all its overindulgence in depravity, Belladonna stands as both an important forebear to a now-beloved genre and a confused, albeit earnest tribute to those who dare defy authority in order to elevate themselves. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comAlissa WilkinsonMay 6, 2016
That mashup — of feminine beauty and insanity-inducing toxicity —is a good cipher for everything about Belladonna of Sadness (“Kanashimi no Balladonna”). Read full review
50
ConsequenceCollin BrennanJul 7, 2016
For a film that takes such pains to position itself within the feminist tradition, Belladonna of Sadness has a bad habit of lingering on the body of its protagonist, coming across as more pornographic than progressive, more exploitative than revolutionary. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCharles SolomonMay 13, 2016
Belladonna of Sadness is an interesting curiosity from the early days of modern anime, but material that may have seemed daring and adult in the era of Disney's “Robin Hood” and “Snoopy, Come Home” looks exploitative and misogynistic 43 years later. Read full review
50
Village VoiceSimon AbramsMay 5, 2016
You can fully enjoy Belladonna of Sadness if you either overlook or participate in the objectification of a gorgeous victim. Read full review
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