La Cocina
Arthouse Traffic | Release Date: October 25, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinLiam LaceyDec 4, 2024
Ruizpalacio’s purpose is to present the harried workplace as a microcosm of American capitalism, its obsession with abused undocumented immigrants, anger at women’s reproduction rights and devotion to the churning machinery of consumption. The message isn’t new but, in the present moment, the sheer bluntness of the critique feels liberating. Read full review
91
The PlaylistRafaela Sales RossFeb 18, 2024
Briones and Mara are perfect dance partners in this waltz between reality and possibility, stark opposites and doomed lovers united by a hope they know to be foolish. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 25, 2024
La Cocina is a phenomenal showcase for Briones, who gives one of the most mesmerizingly multi-faceted performances of the year. Read full review
80
Little White LiesHannah StrongApr 2, 2025
It’s not all choreographed chaos, either – La Cocina soars in its quiet moments. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 27, 2025
La Cocina makes watching The Bear feel like listening to Enya in a garden centre. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenNov 1, 2024
Ruizpalacios creates a visual style that continues to reinvent itself right up to the end, crafting an unpredictable feeling that matches the volatile plotting. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 19, 2024
A chaotic symphony of nearly two dozen characters, this black-and-white indie confection (garnished with sparing touches of color) mixes biting social critique with stylistic bravura. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 19, 2024
Even if the film ultimately strays too far into virtuosic theatricality, betraying its origins, La Cocina is a gripping reflection on the dehumanizing grind of labor and the ways that its soul-crushing routines stifle hope. Even if he takes too long wrapping up an overwrought climactic crescendo, this is a compelling vision of the immigrant experience as a hellish limbo in which even the seeming ballast of community, brotherhood and love can be illusory. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichFeb 18, 2024
While La Cocina can’t always shake the polemical stiffness of its source material or the political chokehold of its modernized setting, the film’s agit-prop expressionism allows it to push beyond the boundaries of other stories like it. Read full review
75
The Film StageRory O'ConnorFeb 18, 2024
Ruizpalacios’ film has style to burn but little interest in subtlety, and even the most high-grade hammers can lose their sheen after 139 minutes of hammering. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassOct 22, 2024
La Cocina goes further than recasting the American dream as a nightmare and the much sought-after visa as a ticket to infinite exploitation. Read full review
60
ColliderErick MassotoOct 25, 2024
When we get to the end of its hefty runtime, we get the sensation that La Cocina tried to be several things — an investigative thriller, a fish-out-of-water drama, a delirious trip of a man who’s starting to get burnt out — and didn’t manage to take any of them all the way. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaOct 24, 2024
The film’s epic finale feels stagy — while these real-life frustrations are anything but. Read full review
50
Screen DailyLee MarshallFeb 19, 2024
We never shake off the feeling we’re watching a filmed play, one whose dramatic crescendos and lulls are relentlessly stagey and stylised. Read full review
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