No
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 15, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
2
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMar 14, 2013
Take the backroom political machinations of "Lincoln," add in the showbiz sleight of hand of "Argo," and you’ll get something like No, a cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 7, 2013
No succeeds, wonderfully, because it knows how to sell itself. It is cool, witty, technically dazzling in a low-key and convincing way. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesOmer M. MozaffarMar 6, 2013
The film becomes a sort of boxing match, getting more intense with each round, building to an exciting finish. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumFeb 13, 2013
The movie — the third in a trilogy of powerful political dramas from Larraín, including "Tony Manero" and "Post Mortem" — uses period detail, archival footage, and '80s-era technology to create an excellently authentic, bleached, crummy-looking document of a great democratic accomplishment. Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfFeb 12, 2013
The essential thrust here is both knowing and undeniable: No is pitched at the pivot point when the image makers were brazen enough to push ideology to the side. Considering how high the stakes were, it’s amazing they almost didn’t get the gig. Read full review
90
SlateDana StevensFeb 28, 2013
It’s the rare political satire that can sound the depths of irony as No does and still end on a note of ambivalent hope. Read full review
90
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 18, 2013
The best movie ever made about Chilean plebiscites, NO thoroughly deserves its Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 16, 2013
Like "Argo" or "Zero Dark Thirty," the film dramatizes a fertile subject — in this instance, the language of advertising in modern politics. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirFeb 16, 2013
A troubling, exhilarating and ingeniously realized film that’s part stirring political drama and part devilish media satire. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 14, 2013
Even if No is not the whole truth — and no film is — its pungent dialogue and involving characters tell a delicious and very pertinent tale. And the messages it delivers, its thoughts on the workings of democracy and the intricacies of personality, are just as valuable and entertaining — maybe even more so. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 6, 2013
Marshall McLuhan called advertising the greatest art form of the 20th century. In No, Pablo Larraín’s sly, smart, fictionalized tale about the art of the sell during a fraught period in Chilean history, advertising isn’t only an art; it’s also a way of life. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonApr 4, 2013
The Oscar-nominated No has the gritty feel of a foreign film from the 1970s. As such, it may take a few minutes for most moviegoers to adjust to its rhythms. Ironically for a film about advertising, there’s nothing slick about it — and therein lies much of its greatness. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMar 25, 2013
No is an exploration of the power of the media to manipulate hearts and minds. The moral of the story: Always go positive. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 14, 2013
A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 7, 2013
No is a comedy, but of a dangerous sort. Its eyes are open and the laughs tend to stick in your throat. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 21, 2013
No grabs you hard, no mercy, and keeps you riveted. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 16, 2013
For anyone fascinated by the political process and the powers of persuasive advertising, No is a resounding yes. Read full review
83
Film.comStephanie ZacharekFeb 26, 2013
No is anything but a somber political tract; it’s a little bit of a thriller, and more than a little bit of a comedy. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D AngeloFeb 13, 2013
The result is the most unexpectedly riotous comedy in years — one with more bite than usual. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 7, 2013
A fascinating case study in basic-level democracy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 6, 2013
Anchored by an admirably measured performance from Gael Garcia Bernal as the maverick advertising ace who spearheaded the winning campaign, the quietly impassioned film seems a natural for intelligent arthouse audiences. Read full review
80
Total FilmNeil SmithFeb 6, 2013
“We have to find a product that’s appealing to people!” says Garcia Bernal at one point. And that’s just what Larraín’s created with this Latin spin on "Mad Men." Read full review
80
EmpirePhilip WildingFeb 6, 2013
Initially jarring, the video aesthetic blends beautifully with period footage to give a smart depiction of a nation in transition. A well-deserved Oscar nominee. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 3, 2013
The movie needs one or two central characters directly affected by the dictatorship, in order to create more tension around a conclusion that's already known. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayFeb 28, 2013
No isn’t nearly as definitive or declarative as its title: It leaves viewers wondering whether they should cheer, shrug or shake their heads. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 28, 2013
Bernal is quite good as the young media specialist - it's always surprising to see how strong a presence he is in his Spanish-language films and how he all-but disappears in his American films. Is it a matter of the roles or the language? The jury is still out. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreFeb 27, 2013
Here’s a fascinating piece of history that escaped much of the world’s notice, when it happened back in 1988. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 16, 2013
The tone of uplift is earned. Larraín’s unarguable point is that, in politics, if we wait for good to issue only from the pure in heart, we will be waiting a very long time. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundFeb 6, 2013
A singular biopic and a snapshot of a society renewed, No unaffectedly celebrates faith in democracy, and, surprisingly, truth in advertising. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick PinkertonFeb 12, 2013
No uses the actual commercial material the opposition created for its anti-Pinochet campaign and—re-creating the behind-the-scenes filming—deftly appropriates mediated history for fiction. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie FelperinFeb 6, 2013
After "Tony Manero" and "Post Mortem," his devastating portraits of how the Pinochet regime psychologically brutalized the people of Chile from 1973-90, Chilean helmer Pablo Larrain satisfyingly completes the trilogy with an affirmative victory for democracy in No. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStan HallApr 4, 2013
Anchoring a terrific cast is Bernal, who gives one of his best-ever performances. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 27, 2013
It all looks crummy, to say the least, but this is clearly the director’s intent. I’m not fully convinced that the technique delivers the kind of veracity the filmmakers were trying to achieve, although it is a creative solution to an intractable visual problem. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottApr 5, 2013
You'd think that a movie about such a dynamic moment and such a vibrant ad campaign would be more dynamic and vibrant. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 15, 2013
The result was remarkable, but the story of it, while true to the moment, needed — ironically — much more dynamism. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 13, 2013
No, which has been nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, is largely a gimmick picture: At all times, it looks like hastily assembled news footage shot on grainy videotape in 1988. That means light flaring up to spoil the image, bumpy camerawork, a nearly square picture and all-around grubbiness. Read full review
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