Colonia
Screen Media Films | Release Date: April 15, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
8
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 14, 2016
Although genuinely gripping — at times, uncomfortably so — the tale of Lena and Daniel’s efforts to escape from Colonia and expose its abuses suffers from a heavy-handed telling. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyApr 15, 2016
Watson and Bruhl give it their best, and Nyqvist makes a powerful villain, but Colonia winds up being a movie that wants to get its way on too many levels, and winds up not satisfying on most of them. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenApr 14, 2016
The end product is a standard-issue cult drama that nevertheless has its gripping moments thanks mainly to the presence of Emma Watson. Read full review
50
The Film StageJared MobarakApr 13, 2016
Rushed and full of cinematic artifice, Gallenberger and Torsen Wenzel‘s script reveals itself to be devoid of the naturalism the leads are desperately trying to supply. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeJul 17, 2016
You can see why this girl-saves-guy storyline clicked with Watson’s feminism, and she brings pin-sharp intelligence to the role. But everything here feels inauthentic. Read full review
40
CineVueMatthew AndersonJun 30, 2016
Set in early 1970s Chile, and prefaced with archival footage of the final days of Salvador Allende's presidency, The Colony paddles indecisively in the unspeakable ills of the Pinochet era without ever really taking the plunge. Read full review
40
EmpireDavid ParkinsonJun 30, 2016
Notwithstanding the efforts of a game cast, this is a grotesque miscalculation that disrespects the memory of those who perished in one of the darkest episodes in recent history by turning it into a piece of white-knuckle entertainment. Read full review
40
Village VoiceApril WolfeApr 21, 2016
Rather than a grand buildup, Colonia just gives the sense of one thing happening, and then another thing happening. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaApr 14, 2016
Unfortunately, what the filmmaker has wound up with is something that feels like it should be playing at the bottom end of a triple bill at a drive-in. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerApr 14, 2016
It somehow manages to feel more like a Hallmark Channel romance than like a serious film. Read full review
30
Screen DailyStaff (Not Credited)Apr 13, 2016
The victims of notorious Chilean torture camp Colonia Dignidad suffered more than enough without Colonia adding insult to injury. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis HarveyApr 13, 2016
The leads are given the thankless task of maintaining grim poker faces through scene after scene of high contrivance and cliche-ridden dialogue. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovApr 11, 2016
Nothing more than leftwing exploitation cinema, a cheap thriller dressed up in the guise of a social-justice exposé. Read full review
25
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthJan 15, 2016
Working at cross-purposes, Colonia tries to have it both ways, wanting to be a shocking true story drama and a riveting piece of moviemaking. But it’s not intelligent enough to accumulate any emotional payoff, and it’s too generic and unsophisticated in its execution to work purely as popcorn entertainment. Read full review
20
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerApr 13, 2016
Colonia marks a truly misguided attempt to fabricate a Hollywood-style thriller out of the darkest quarters of Latin American history. Read full review
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