Dormant Beauty
Emerging Pictures | Release Date: June 6, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJun 3, 2014
Subtle emotional intelligence has always distinguished Bellocchio's filmmaking, and Dormant Beauty is constructed from fine-grained layers of it, the filmmaker's equivalent of a master cabinetmaker's craft. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungJun 5, 2014
Refusing to offer easy answers or perspectives, Dormant Beauty is directed in such a way it doesn’t need to take a clear-cut position on the question, because like all the director’s work it has no concern with convincing people of anything, but a great deal of interest in illuminating contemporary Italian society. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenJun 12, 2014
The proportions of the narrative strands sometimes feel off, but the movie pulses with the unpredictability of full-blooded characters. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichJun 3, 2014
Bellocchio counters these flaws with an energetically combative aesthetic (he makes you feel like you’re riding out a sociopolitical tempest, careening between perspectives) and an overarching humanism that gives equal weight to the many feelings stirred up by this hot-button situation. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJun 4, 2014
Swift and often compelling, it’s also blessedly unbiased. Read full review
70
VarietyJay WeissbergJun 5, 2014
"Beauty" has numerous scenes of enormous power, though removing one unnecessary plot strand would allow deeper probing elsewhere. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 5, 2014
If Dormant Beauty does not rank among Mr. Bellocchio’s best movies, it nonetheless still occasionally shows him at his best. His eye for the latent beauty and evident absurdity of Italian life remains acute, as does his appreciation for vivid performance. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJun 5, 2014
Though the movie eschews facile sloganeering, few of its characters or narrative threads are able to develop beyond their function as metaphors. Read full review
67
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonJun 3, 2014
The film’s well-written, beautifully performed (not least from Huppert, who’s typically stunning as her icy, grief-stricken matriarch, and the moving Servillo, of “Il Divo” and “Gomorrah” fame), and nicely made, if a good 15 minutes overlong. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoJun 2, 2014
The film puts too many elements into play, which means it ends up darting hopelessly between a series of underdeveloped storylines. Read full review
60
The DissolveNoel MurrayJun 3, 2014
Dormant Beauty always comes back to the difficult decisions that family members have to make for each other, contrasted with the huffiness of outsiders who try to project their own beliefs onto someone else’s business. Read full review
40
CineVueJo-Ann TitmarshJun 12, 2014
Bearing in mind the dramatic nature of the real life-and-death story at Dormant Beauty's core, this is an unacceptable and irresponsible piece of filmmaking for all of its good intentions. Read full review
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