Pieta
Drafthouse Films | Release Date: May 17, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMay 16, 2013
Morally cunning and with a tone as black as pitch, Pieta, the 18th film from the South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, is a deeply unnerving revenge movie in which redemption is dangled like a cat toy before a cougar. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnApr 12, 2013
Kim's movies are generally grim, disturbing affairs, but "Pieta" leaves much to the imagination in favor of its unsettling implications. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. MusettoMay 16, 2013
Pieta is one of Kim’s most complex and mature efforts, melding violence and humor into dark entertainment. Read full review
85
NPRKeith PhippsMay 16, 2013
The film takes a long road to spirituality, though, with plenty of stops for violence and perversion along the way. Like Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant," this story is determined to put core Christian principles to the harshest tests imaginable. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 17, 2013
Pieta, which won last year's Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, is disturbing, for sure, but its larger points save it from being a quick and dirty wallow. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghMay 16, 2013
Even if its stunted ambitions come as a disappointment, Pieta nevertheless is an expertly crafted thriller and a fine addition to East Asian revenge cinema. Read full review
80
VarietyLeslie FelperinApr 12, 2013
The final reel packs a genuine emotional wallop, even as it makes auds laugh with the vicious precision of its dramatic irony. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungApr 12, 2013
Kim Ki-duk is back in fighting form in Pieta, an intense and, for the first hour, sickeningly violent film that unexpectedly segues into a moving psychological study. Read full review
77
Film.comWilliam GossMay 17, 2013
Not as touching or boldly transgressive as its ultra-violent peers. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsMay 16, 2013
Kim deals with an ancient suspicion of money that predates Marx, MasterCard and Madoff. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 15, 2013
The performances of these two leads are compelling and the Cheonggyecheon area can almost be seen as another character in Kim’s morality tale. And even if forgiveness is not always possible in the human condition, Pieta allows that expiation of one’s sins is within the realm of the possible. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJul 12, 2013
It's not a film for everyone. Those who see it, however, will have trouble forgetting it. Read full review
60
Village VoiceNick SchagerMay 14, 2013
After establishing a central parent-child relationship rife with wacko biblical undertones, the director finds nowhere to take his story except into standard vengeance territory. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichMay 14, 2013
Stick with the film, though, and you might find yourself strangely moved by its oddball mix of ripe melodrama, overwrought violence and regional verisimilitude. Read full review
58
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonApr 12, 2013
The film contains some memorable moments, and a pair of fine performances, but it’s hard not to feel that it would have proved more successful if it had stayed on the path it was heading down for the first forty minutes or so. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 15, 2013
Too bad both actors are stuck in a hollow provocation. Pietà may be all about the burden of debt—financial, spiritual, or otherwise — but it’s the audience that really pays a price. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineJohn SemleyMay 14, 2013
Kim Ki-duk's film makes an exaggerated, undeserved show of its cruelty, indignity, and aspirations of importance. Read full review
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