Lion's Den
A-Film Distribution | Release Date: May 15, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah Young
Guillermo Nieto's hand-held camerawork mimics Julia's nervous energy and keeps the audience locked up along with her, working in symbiosis with Federico Esquerro's forcefully realistic sound design. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim Robey
It has the desperate vitality of something barely made-up. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid Jenkins
Part meticulous character study, part hyperrealist drama, Trapero’s film is as interested in documenting how such an institution functions on a day-to-day basis as he is in presenting the joys and pains of female cohabitation in such a confined space. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The dimly lit, exquisitely composed cinematography, by Guillermo Nieto, adds to the draw of this highly recommended movie. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Although it is not a comedy, Lion’s Den is suffused with sense of life lived in the present. Even the grimmest moments are not exploited to instill fear and loathing. Read full review
63
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Unfortunately the movie is also a bit too long, and for long stretches it's about as entertaining as, well, a long stretch. Still, if this were one of those movie-review TV shows, I'd have to give Lion's Den a (tiny) thumb's up, for its aura of authenticity and for the ferocity of Gusman's commitment. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
At its most interesting when it shows the lives of women and children prisoners, the film has the feel of a movie-of-the-week cliché when it returns to Julia's improbable crime. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Frustratingly, the film tells us little about the crime itself and the denouement is a little unconvincing. The taste of sweat and fear is, however, real enough. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Too many generic tropes for this downbeat, detached melodrama to convince as a work of social realism but a strong central performance and convincing depiction of the compartmentalisation of Argentina's women. Read full review
60
Total FilmKate Stables
Gusman is sullenly magnificent; you can’t fault the movie’s realism either, shot in an actual prison and soberly reflecting some acute social problems. But the movie’s muggy pace makes you feel that you’ve served every day of Julia’s sentence with her. Read full review
50
VarietyJay Weissberg
Situated somewhere between neo-realist study and standard women in prison pic, Lion's Den too frequently wanders into common territories to make the material its own. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineAndrew Schenker
Although the film is essentially contemplative, there’s little here worth contemplating. Read full review
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