Last Days in the Desert
| Release Date: May 13, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 12, 2016
The mystical and the mundane come together with captivating force in Last Days in the Desert, Rodrigo Garcia’s thoughtful, intriguingly layered interpretation of the Gospel stories of Jesus’s confrontation with the devil while fasting and praying in the Judean desert. Read full review
83
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerMay 13, 2016
Last Days in the Desert explores Jesus in his most mortal phase, and McGregor’s exhausted performance is essential to its success. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 12, 2016
Whether or not you accept the tenets of Christianity, Last Days in the Desert, Rodrigo García’s austere depiction of the temptations of Christ, offers a quietly compelling portrait of the human side of Jesus. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMay 10, 2016
Last Days is weighty and somber, familiar and strange, in the way of Bible stories but not of contemporary faith-based filmmaking, which eschews mystery and paradox for homily. Read full review
80
VarietyJustin ChangFeb 1, 2015
Deliberately paced, sparely imagined and suffused with mystery, writer-director Rodrigo Garcia’s seventh feature is nonetheless quite lucid and accessible in its themes of empathy, compassion and sacrifice, and grounded by a Christ/Satan dual performance by Ewan McGregor that plays vastly better onscreen than it sounds on paper. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanFeb 1, 2015
A smart and beautiful meditation of fathers and sons (and the Father and Son) that is slow but never boring. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriFeb 1, 2015
[A] haunting, beautiful movie. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupMay 9, 2016
By keeping characterization and plotting to a minimum, García has crafted a film in which he invites his audience to bring their own interpretations to the pensive story. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 9, 2016
Last Days In The Desert possesses the attributes that have been the hallmark of writer-director Rodrigo García’s best films: It’s emotionally uncluttered while being narratively ambitious. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 18, 2016
Last Days in the Desert is a Jesus story that plays well for the nonfaithful who nevertheless appreciate the example of Jesus and his teachings. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezFeb 1, 2015
An admirable and touching picture, Last Days In The Desert can be deeply moving in moments, but as restrained and elegant as it is, the picture never quite transcends. Read full review
65
TheWrapDave WhiteMay 13, 2016
This impulse to do less, to avoid excess, is admirable — something the current wave of Conservative Evangelical filmmaking could bear to emulate — but in the end it reads as timid, eventually making “Last Days” feel small and insignificant, hobbled by its own restraint. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaMay 13, 2016
At the very least, we should give thanks that an almighty cinematographer like Emmanuel Lubezki, who has won a record three consecutive Oscars for his work on “Gravity,” “Birdman” and “The Revenant,” exists. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaMay 9, 2016
It's never made clear how witnessing a family deal with their specific issues affects Jesus's own perspective on his destiny. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 13, 2016
At times a beautiful wandering, at other times an admirable character study, but rarely a powerful whole. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyFeb 1, 2015
Garcia’s take, however beautiful physically, is intellectually opaque and creatively cautious, leaving the interested viewer, whether or not a believer, with much to wonder about but little to actually chew on. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerMay 11, 2016
By the end, what seemed like a lovely rumination starts to sound more like poetry refashioned as prose. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 17, 2016
It's a shame that the divine and human elements of this story are put into competition, because either one might have flourished on its own. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe DziemianowiczMay 11, 2016
Moviegoers don’t get much to chew on either, besides a decent performance by Ewan McGregor as both Jesus and a demon, plus some OMG-worthy landscapes. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithMay 12, 2016
I tried squinting. Didn’t work. I turned my head slightly to the side. Uh-uh. No matter what I tried, I could not, cannot and never will be able to see Ewan McGregor as Jesus Christ. Read full review
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