Leonor Will Never Die
Music Box Films | Release Date: November 25, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarNov 28, 2022
With its low-fi pleasures of see-through ghosts and TV screens as portals, the film reaffirms how ingenious the medium can be in the grasp of the right artist. From one segment to the next, the mechanics of this adventure repeatedly astound us. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDec 8, 2022
As Leonor Will Never Die parties to its close, Escobar reminds us that while life is unerringly finite, cinema is the complicated, messy, riotous love affair that never has to end. Read full review
83
The PlaylistCharles BarfieldJan 29, 2022
In a film steeped in loss and grief, Leonor Will Never Die, as the title implies, is ultimately a beautiful, life-affirming celebration of the power of film and art to heal. Yes, even ‘80s action films. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinApr 4, 2023
Somehow it works on every level: as a moving melodrama about maternal sacrifice and grief, as a domestic comedy, and even as a glorious musical. Read full review
80
PolygonKatie RifeDec 2, 2022
A sense of play and joyful collaboration permeates Leonor Will Never Die, even as it engages with serious issues of life, death, and legacy. It reminds us that love, like creativity, is a living thing, and that both are meant to be shared. Read full review
80
Screen RantNadir SamaraNov 23, 2022
To say Leonor Will Never Die is making bold choices would be an understatement. One never sees the comedy coming, the film is gorgeous, and the script is easily one of the year's best. Read full review
75
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 29, 2022
As wacky as it all sounds (and there are certainly punchlines to appreciate), Escobar’s creation can be shockingly moving. Read full review
70
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsApr 6, 2023
Escobar’s go-for-broke handling of the material favours fun outtakes, flip humour and nostalgic hat-tips to the days when the Philippines had real gravitational pull as a hub for maverick genre enthusiasts wanted to parlay the beautiful/desolate surroundings into their scuzzy opus. And just when you reach the point where you think that Escobar has finally lost the plot, she crops up on camera and admits just that. Read full review
70
VarietyAmy NicholsonJan 29, 2022
Escobar is after something deeper than parody. She wants audiences to question how fictional strongmen have been idealized as real-world saviors. Read full review
67
The Film StageSoham GadreDec 8, 2022
The self-referential material and multiple-threaded storylines tend to overstretch greater narrative. Yet Leonor plays with interesting blends of reality and fiction, borrowing from Filipino action influences to create a potent concoction of how inspiration might strike a writer’s creative impulses. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisDec 1, 2022
Although its ambitions often exceed its reach, the meta-mad Filipino film Leonor Will Never Die (a terrible Americanized title) bursts with imaginative impulses, scoring slightly more hits than misses in a Charlie Kaufmanesque storyline that flip-flops between reality and fantasy using the tropey device of a movie within a movie. Read full review
65
Film ThreatAli ArkaniJan 29, 2022
The film builds everything up just to smash it and laugh, like a kid playing with LEGO. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisNov 23, 2022
The effect is by turns comical, maddening and endearing as Escobar reaches for more ambitious ideas about the political appeal of the authoritarian hero; but “Leonor” is finally too mired in its film-within-the-film frolics for more serious themes to gain traction. Read full review
50
TheWrapSimon AbramsNov 23, 2022
Francisco’s committed and surprisingly nuanced performance makes it easier to invest in the movie’s otherwise unexplained style of magical realism. Read full review
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