Charlatan

Name: Charlatan
Genre: Drama, History
Released: July 23, 2021
Duration: 118 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Barbora Milotová, Claudia Vaseková, Ivan Trojan, Jan Vlasák, Jana Olhová

2021

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

See All

6.3

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.3	Your Score
6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Charlatan (US Trailer 1)

Now Playing: Charlatan (US Trailer 1)

Movie Details & Credits

Strand Releasing | Release Date: July 23, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: Barbora Milotová, Claudia Vaseková, Ivan Trojan, Jan Vlasák, Jana Olhová, Jaroslava Pokorná, Jirí Cerný, Joachim Paul Assböck, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj, Ladislav Kolár, Marek Epstein, Martin Mysicka, Martin Sitta, Martina Babisova, Miroslav Hanus

Summary: Few true stories tread the thin line between good and evil as precariously as that of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbal healer whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets. Mikolášek won fame and fortune treating celebrities of the interwar, Nazi, and Communist eras with his uncanny knack for “urinary diagnosis”. But hisFew true stories tread the thin line between good and evil as precariously as that of Jan Mikolášek, a 20th century Czech herbal healer whose great success masked the grimmest of secrets. Mikolášek won fame and fortune treating celebrities of the interwar, Nazi, and Communist eras with his uncanny knack for “urinary diagnosis”. But his passion for healing welled up from the same source as a lust for cruelty, sadism, and an incapacity for love that only one person could ever quell – his assistant, František. As a show trial threatens to pry open these secrets and undo him, Jan’s dichotomies are put to a final test, with the fate of his life’s only love in the balance. A personal tale as replete with twists as the century itself, and a reflection on the price one pays for single-mindedly following one’s calling.… Expand

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Genre(s): Drama, History

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 118 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Deborah Young

Feb 28, 2020

Though shot in the most classic of idioms, the film commands attention with its mesmerizing performances and lively cross-cutting between key moments in the hero’s life. Read full review

William Repass

Jul 19, 2021

Throughout the film, Agnieszka Holland makes clear that she isn’t interested in easily digestible pop-psychology nuggets. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

Jul 22, 2021

Often as thorny as its subject but also oddly fascinated by his near-magical abilities, “Charlatan” is a temporary cure for the common biopic. Read full review

Michael Ordoña

Jul 23, 2021

What audiences are likely to come away with most of all is a pondering over how these many sides could coexist in the same person, perhaps wondering what they think of him — and finding it difficult to arrive at an answer. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Feb 28, 2020

Charlatan becomes entangled in its conflicting mesh of traits and time periods, but the film is only able to become more than the sum of its frustrating parts because it embraces those complications in the first place. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Feb 28, 2020

Caught between a respectful tribute to Mikolášek’s medical achievements and a more salacious examination of his moral transgressions — with a tender if speculative gay romance propped somewhere in between — it’s an ambitious portrait of human imperfection that doesn’t strain to arouse much affection for its subject in the audience. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Feb 28, 2020

Charlatan is a film that does not quite satisfy the curiosity it arouses. Read full review

SEE ALL 7 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Negative:

No reviews yet.