Ma' Rosa
| Release Date: TBA CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The Film StageRory O'ConnorMay 21, 2016
We’re asked to empathize with Rosa from the get-go despite barely being able to make out whatever anguish she’s been suffering. Mendoza will rectify this late on in an emotionally earth-shattering final sequence, the type that lingers with you like a faint cry for help. Read full review
75
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicMay 21, 2016
Purposefully joyless and bereft of any kind of aesthetic gratification other than the one found in Mendoza’s use of cinema verite and non-sentimental approach, Ma’ Rosa is tough-as-nails, and leaves you with a heaviness and a pulsating sympathy that’s impossible to ignore. Read full review
70
VarietyMaggie LeeMay 21, 2016
As in most of the director’s repertoire, he portrays working class family relations with unpretentious warmth. Boasting a simple, coherent plot shot with real-time, handheld verismo, it’s a work of understated confidence. Read full review
65
TheWrapBen CrollMay 22, 2016
Filipino director Brillante Mendoza’s neorealist indictment of police corruption looks unlike any other film playing in Cannes’ Official Competition. It’s just that what sets the film apart is its visual ugliness. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 21, 2016
The nighttime tungsten orange of the street lighting and the urine-coloured neon of the interiors makes for a grueling visual experience which is why the daylight of the latter-half offers precious relief. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 21, 2016
Ma’Rosa is made with control and clarity, a narrative purpose which is held on to despite an apparently aimless docu-style, and a clear sense of jeopardy. My reservation is that it doesn’t reveal much of what is going on in Rosa’s mind and heart. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijMay 21, 2016
Troy Espiritu’s plot-driven screenplay and Mendoza’s preference for a gritty, documentary-like style mean that the final result is neither as deep nor as resonant as it could have been. Read full review
60
Screen DailyAllan HunterMay 21, 2016
Ma’ Rosa is atmospheric and involving to a degree but also feels as if we are in familiar territory. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonGeoff AndrewMay 21, 2016
If there’s nothing profoundly original or insightful here, there’s no denying the atmosphere of squalid authenticity, particularly in the scenes shot on the streets. Read full review
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