Sergio
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): April 17, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
84
PolygonKaren HanMay 19, 2020
Barker’s obvious care and respect for his subject makes Sergio stirring to watch. But as Craig Borten’s script leans more and more on romance, the film flounders. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 16, 2020
This portrait of influential U.N. diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello benefits immensely from two magnetic leads, Wagner Moura and Ana de Armas, whose onscreen chemistry is undeniable; but its deft sense of structure is of equal importance, making it an engrossing picture even for those who know next to nothing about its subject or settings. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonApr 17, 2020
It’s an acting dream part and Moura’s more than up to the challenge. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 15, 2020
Sergio is not a film about a saint or a sinner, but an attempt that succeeds more often than not to create a portrait of a man in full. Yes, it also occasionally puts him on a pedestal — but in these dark days, advocating for hope and idealism feels exactly right. Read full review
63
The Associated PressLindsey BahrApr 16, 2020
You’re always waiting for the movie to really get going. It’s shot like a political thriller without the thrills. Read full review
62
TheWrapSteve PondApr 20, 2020
The new Sergio isn’t as seamless or as powerful as Barker’s work in the nonfiction arena, but it takes chances and finds some real lyricism along the way. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeApr 16, 2020
The sweeping, full-throated romance of the last act might not work for some, who could conceivably argue its dominance leaves gaps in Sérgio’s professional life, but it makes for an emotionally satisfying ending. Read full review
60
Screen RantSandy SchaeferApr 16, 2020
Uneven yet sincere in its execution, Sergio combines simplified political melodrama with a tragic love story powered by its leads' performances. Read full review
60
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 8, 2020
Sergio’s intentions are pure, and the movie is pleasingly old-school in the way it merges political drama — and tragedy — with romance. Sometimes, though, the burden of playing a dedicated servant of the people appears to be too much for Moura: the performance feels stiff and stately, as if he’s considered every breath. Moura makes us see the gleaming role model, but it’s much harder to see the man underneath — and you can’t leave a legacy without first having had a heartbeat. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin CrustApr 23, 2020
Barker and Borten have chosen to retain the documentary’s framing device of the rescue attempt. In the nonfiction film, it served as a propulsive engine, carefully balanced against the interviews that told Vieira de Mello’s story and its tragic conclusion. Here, it feels abstract, disjointed from the scenes with him and Carolina, thus weakening and muddying the story. Read full review
50
IndieWireKate ErblandApr 22, 2020
There’s no question there is much to admire about both Vieira de Mello and Moura’s soaring portrayal of him, but it’s all buried under the weight of a biopic too afraid to really show the truth about a flawed world, and a flawed man who loved it. Read full review
50
The PlaylistRobert DanielsApr 16, 2020
Barker takes his initially enthralling documentary and dilutes the story with this new feature, creating melodramatic lightness without an affectingly heavy touch due to the tepid tone and wheezing tempo. In short, it snoozes. Read full review
50
VarietyJessica KiangApr 16, 2020
Sergio Vieira de Mello was, by all accounts, not a man who let fear of making the wrong decision stop him from acting decisively, and it’s a shame that the soft-edged romantic prevarications of Sergio prevent the film from embodying that same dynamism. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 16, 2020
Wagner Moura (Narcos’s Pablo Escobar himself) does what he can as the sturdy Sergio, and the actor has strong, near-instant chemistry with a love interest played by Ana de Armas. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisApr 23, 2020
This admiring yet sluggish movie mostly drowns its political revelations in sticky sentiment. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 16, 2020
Sergio, a Netflix docudrama directed by Greg Barker from a banal screenplay by Craig Borten, catches flashes of his brilliance from time to time but scatters and dims them through a mosaic structure that’s ultimately no structure at all. Read full review
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