Leviathan
Cinema Guild | Release Date: March 1, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 12, 2013
It’s really a radical experiment in non-fiction cinema – not seeking to enlighten or inform, but to disorientate us, practically to drown us, in a nightmare vision of the ocean’s power. Read full review
100
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonFeb 26, 2013
Plunging viewers into the thick of chaos, Leviathan explodes the antiquated paradigm of the documentary or ethnographic film, whose mission has traditionally been to educate or elucidate, to create something that seizes us, never letting us forget just how disordered the world is. This may be the greatest lesson any nonfiction film can teach us. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineFeb 22, 2013
Leviathan is a titanic achievement, a visceral overload whose impact registers immediately and with great force. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonFeb 22, 2013
A highly original film of uncompromising, other-worldly beauty. Leviathan demands to be seen, even if it means you never eat seafood again. Read full review
91
The PlaylistGabe ToroMar 1, 2013
The experience of Leviathan is wholly singular, without context, enveloping and immersive. In some ways, it might very well be the most terrifying picture of the year. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayFeb 27, 2013
Anyone who enjoys overpowering cinematic sensation and watching people do a job will be predisposed to like Leviathan, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel’s avant-garde documentary about life aboard a commercial fishing vessel. Leviathan is an immersive experience, plunging viewers into darkness and chaos, amid a rush of vivid color and rapid movement. Read full review
88
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMay 30, 2013
It is part Rorschach test and part theme park ride as the filmmakers shoot from the strangest places and from such odd perspectives that much of the film consists of trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 29, 2013
Not an easy watch, and something in which you must make an investment of attention – but a fascinating piece of work. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerNov 25, 2013
Part fishing documentary, part filmmaking experiment, Paravel and Castaing-Taylor is remarkable, disorientating and unique gem. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 28, 2013
Leviathan, a product of the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard, offers not information but immersion: 90 minutes of wind, water, grinding machinery and piscine agony. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 26, 2013
The first and only piece of advice needed on one’s way to the fishing pond is this: Bring your patience. Not surprisingly, the same could be said to a viewer of this slow-building but riveting experimental collage. Read full review
80
VarietyBoyd van HoeijFeb 22, 2013
Picture's title comes from the sea creature mentioned in the book of Job, which is briefly quoted at the film's opening. Cast list cheekily includes not only the names of the men aboard the vessel where the documentary was filmed, but also the Latin names of the species caught. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeFeb 28, 2013
The adventurous souls who stick with it, however, will find head-spinning images and a cumulative impact that does, in fact, amount to a story. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithNov 29, 2013
The results – achieved through small cameras clipped to nets, masts and the crew – will hook some and induce seasickness in others. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounNov 26, 2013
There are no interviews, characters nor narration, and after an hour it can feel like a chore. Yet the images are staggering. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMay 10, 2013
Though it's a decidedly arty piece, Leviathan, named after the biblical sea creature, also lacks much in the way of traditional beauty or splendor. However, the immersive shots of those swooping and circling sea gulls are quite something. Read full review
60
NPRStephanie ZacharekMar 1, 2013
The result is a self-conscious tone poem concocted from oblique camera angles, shots held longer than it takes a tadpole to reach maturity and nighttime images enhanced with a psychedelic glow. An alternate title for it might be "David Lynch, Gone Fishin'." Read full review
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