Gloria
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: January 24, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaJan 24, 2014
There is that feeling you get inside when a movie suddenly starts to push your every button, creating an emotional connection that goes beyond pure reason and mere emotion. It elevates your mood to such a point that you wish you could hug the screen out of sheer joy and recognition. That is what Gloria did to me. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 23, 2014
The great accomplishment of Gloria, the Chilean writer-director Sebastián Lelio’s astute, unpretentious and thrillingly humane new film, is that it acknowledges both sides of its heroine’s temperament without judgment or sentimentality. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyOct 23, 2013
Gloria is a work of maturity, depth and emotional insight. There’s not a single false note here. Read full review
100
VarietyStaff [Not Credited]Oct 23, 2013
Pitch-perfect, terrifically written. Read full review
91
The PlaylistJessica KiangOct 22, 2013
Gloria is an endlessly watchable creation—a wonderful example of an actress melting into a role, and a co-writer/director with almost superhuman levels of sensitivity and empathy for his characters. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJan 23, 2014
Between Lelio's ingenuity in staging the film, an extremely clever script co-written with his frequent collaborator, Gonzalo Maza, and the pumping disco that interjects its opinions and assessments of each situation, Gloria is one of the most enjoyable movies to come along in a while. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesMary HoulihanFeb 6, 2014
It is to Lelio’s credit that he steers clear of stereotypes and lets the story unfold organically without judgment or sentimentality. There is an unflinching honesty and intelligence here. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJan 31, 2014
Gloria, spare and keenly observed, plays like a short story - there is no sweeping narrative arc, no momentous triumph or calamity. But there is a bit of justice meted out, and the act of its meting brings a slow, small smile to Gloria's face. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 30, 2014
Garcia’s performance, which won the best actress award at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival, is a marvel of self-effacing artistry. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrJan 30, 2014
If the movie’s about anything, it’s about the tension between what we owe our families and what we owe ourselves. Read full review
87
Film.comStephanie ZacharekOct 9, 2013
I recently heard someone describe Gloria as a midlife-crisis drama, which stunned me. In the most convenient terms, I guess that’s what it is. But what Lelio and Garcia pull off here is so delicate and sturdy that it defies such easy categorization. Read full review
85
NPRElla TaylorJan 24, 2014
The film's director, Sebastian Lelio, is up to all kinds of mischief, the least of which is Gloria's abundant hairdo and outsized spectacles, which give her a slight but unmistakable resemblance to Dustin Hoffman in Sydney Pollack's beloved 1982 comedy, "Tootsie." The movie puts her through hell, but make no mistake: Gloria is a celebration. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJan 22, 2014
Movies about middle-aged women are so rare that it’s tempting to praise them on that basis alone. Thankfully, the Chilean drama Gloria, which won Paulina García the Best Actress prize at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival, doesn’t require much critical mitigation. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJan 22, 2014
Both actors still manage to show something we rarely see on screen: the heartache and happiness that come with love late in life. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 5, 2014
There are many remarkable things about Gloria, Sebastián Lelio’s film about a woman in her late 50s seeking love or something like it. Foremost is the performance by Paulina García in the title role. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 24, 2014
Gloria doesn’t lie about a woman’s dwindling options. It’s rife with disappointment and humiliation. But bleakness does not preclude buoyancy. It still manages to leave you with the urge to dance. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 23, 2014
With someone else in the central role, Gloria might have been cloyingly sentimental or downright maudlin. With Ms. García on hand, it's a mostly convincing celebration of unquenchable energy. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid DenbyJan 18, 2014
At the end of the movie, when Gloria looks at herself appraisingly in a mirror, we seem to be seeing her for the first time. [20 Jan. 2014, p.79]
80
Total FilmTom DawsonNov 3, 2013
Sticking tightly to its heroine’s everyday routines and rituals, this deft blend of humour and pathos fully earns its defiantly upbeat dance-floor denouement. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 3, 2013
Gloria is a sad, painful romantic story. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonGeoff AndrewOct 29, 2013
Though it’s most successful as a character study, the movie also works as an unusually honest variation on the traditional cinematic love story (it rings especially true on the difficulties of starting over after years of settled family life). Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonOct 28, 2013
The mesmerising García and sensitive direction by Lelio light up this delicate yet spiky drama. Terrific stuff from both Chileans. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyFeb 13, 2014
Whether you appreciate Gloria as a portrait of a vital woman, muddling through life’s middle chapters, or as an allegory of Chilean resilience, the message is the same: Let’s face the music and dance. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 30, 2014
For the most part, Gloria is a day brightener of a character study about finding someone new and making the same old mistakes. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJan 30, 2014
The movie lets you make up your own mind about this vivacious, likable woman, who is doing her best not to surrender to her inner loneliness. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 24, 2014
Gloria is a starting-over story that never quite picks up a head of steam. Lelio paces the action as a series of sketches, and the hit-or-miss quality of the material makes for a bumpy ride. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJan 20, 2014
Gloria has a palpable loneliness about it, and Garcia makes us feel that and fear the emptiness that is staring Gloria in the face. Not a lot happens in this closely-observed character study, but few recent movies have dared to show this stage of life, the creeping solitude that memories of your disco past cannot fend off. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineTina HassanniaOct 7, 2013
With its compelling and original approach to its romance narrative, coupled with Paulina García's nuanced and intuitive performance, the film delicately balances an entire octave of emotions. Read full review
70
The DissolveTasha RobinsonJan 23, 2014
While Gloria lacks impact, urgency, or any sense of rising and falling action, it’s beautifully rendered through Benjamín Echazarreta’s warm lens and García’s subtle performance. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 5, 2014
Like the disco sounds that accompany the end of Gloria, this film seems a bit superficial. Read full review
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