Sin Nombre
Focus Features | Release Date: March 20, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Fukanaga's purpose is to evoke the immigrants' experience, which he does with such eloquence and power as to inspire awe. Read full review
100
USA TodayClaudia Puig
That this is Fukunaga's first film is astonishing, given its sharp script, technical proficiency and suspenseful pacing. The ensemble cast is top-notch. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It contains risk, violence, a little romance, even fleeting moments of humor, but most of all, it sees what danger and heartbreak are involved. It is riveting from start to finish. Read full review
100
Washington PostDan Zak
An elegant, heartbreaking fable, equal parts Shakespearean tragedy, neo-Western and mob movie but without the pretension of those genres. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
Thrilling and beautifully crafted. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Writer-director Cary Fukunaga keeps the story lean while peppering it with realistic details. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Forget those weepie liberal clichés. This starless and vividly authentic romantic thriller set in Central America really rocks, and is one of the most exciting directorial debuts in years. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
More substantive than the average thriller/road movie. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Forceful, heart-wrenching stuff. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
The cinematic gloss serves to heighten our involvement in the tale, and to mark Fukunaga as a talent to be reckoned with. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Fukunaga refrains from artificially amping up excitement for its own sake, maintaining an intimate, observational style that offers up a host of things to look at and think about. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
There is bitter and breathtaking truth in the story and in the story- telling, which won Fukunaga the directing and cinematography award in the dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
There are some brief minutes when the tension drops and the story starts to sag, but Fukunaga almost always fills the frame with something worth seeing, and the story has a built-in suspense. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Fukunaga has a fine, spacious film sense and a gift for action, but the doomy, heavy-handed plot devices and overwrought, overacted gangland set pieces betray a novice's hand. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
What keeps the movie from tipping into full-blown exploitation like "City of God," which turns third-world misery into art-house thrills, is Mr. Fukunaga's sincerity. What keeps you watching is his superb eye. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Whenever Sin Nombre turns violent, it seizes you with its convulsive skill, but the film's images vastly outstrip its imagination. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Fukunaga paints better outside the lines, working with cinematographer Adriano Goldman to offer vivid shots of the poverty and despair cutting through Latin America, of gang rituals and territorial skirmishes, and of ordinary people taking dangerous routes to a better life that may be a mirage. Next time, a few rewrites please. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Fukunaga's images are striking, and his storytelling abilities are strong, but his screenwriting skills rely heavily on sappy formulas that add nothing to our understanding of the border-crossing experience. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Crushingly realistic one minute and melodramatically hokey the next. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
It's the tone of the movie's two sides - action and stillness, graphic violence and romantic melodrama - that don't cohere. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJustin Lowe
Fukunaga clearly exhibits a flair for spirited storytelling, but when Sin Nombre departs from the specifics of its unique world in favor of more conventional genre execution, it leaves the characters and audience adrift. Read full review
40
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Lushly photographed and meticulously sound-designed, Sin Nombre is visceral without being vital, researched without ever seeming lived-in. Read full review
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