Sunset
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 22, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageRory O'ConnorSep 5, 2018
It is difficult to find comparisons on a formal scale, and that the plot relies on a few reliable tropes does not distract from how clearly this is the work of a master. Read full review
91
IndieWireMichael NordineSep 3, 2018
There’s sadness and beauty in every frame. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsMar 22, 2019
Unlike most costume dramas, Sunset — a moving Hungarian character study set in Budapest during 1913 — isn't a movie you can easily get lost in. The movie's disorienting and visually austere style takes some getting used to. Read full review
85
TheWrapSteve PondNov 19, 2018
Sprawling where “Son of Saul” was focused and frustrating where it packed a punch, Sunset is nonetheless an audacious step for a director who prefers immersion to exposition. It’s not easy, but it’ll get under your skin. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMar 19, 2019
Sunset, Nemes’ second feature, not only confirms his talent but demonstrates that his style works beautifully even when transferred to perhaps the least horrifying milieu imaginable. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 24, 2019
If Sunset doesn’t hit with nearly the impact that "Son of Saul" does — and it doesn’t — his look back at the chaos before the storm solidly establishes Nemes as a major world-cinema voice. Read full review
80
Screen DailyLee MarshallSep 3, 2018
Can a film be baffling and rewarding at the same time? Can a stimulating cinematic experience co-exist with the suspicion that the filmmaker has deliberately set out to frustrate the audience? For all who believe the answer to those questions can be ‘yes’, then Sunset (Napszállta), second film by Son of Saul director László Nemes provides a rich seam to explore. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 3, 2018
It’s a very mysterious and even bizarre film in many ways, shot in what is becoming Nemes’ signature style: long takes, a persistent closeup on the lead character’s face, and a shallow focus that allows the surrounding reality to intrude only intermittently. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 3, 2019
Oblique, often beguiling, and portentously cryptic. Read full review
75
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerApr 1, 2019
Sunset is difficult filmmaking, the kind which almost seems impenetrable at times. But if you’re willing to meet Nemes on his level, the film’s rich textures will eventually prove themselves beguiling. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 21, 2019
It’s a compelling thesis, though predicated less on supporting arguments than on dramatic feints and hallucinations, on scenes that either evaporate like smoke or strand the viewer in a thick cloud of metaphor. Sunset is maddening and mesmerizing. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 3, 2018
Undeniably, Sunset is an impressive piece of filmmaking and from a technical point of view it stirs memories of the boldly shot Hungarian cinema revival of the Sixties. Read full review
67
Original-CinLiam LaceyApr 4, 2019
Somehow, within this roiling pot of fancy costumes, class hatred, vicious misogyny and official corruption, we are supposed to discern the poisonous seeds of the violence that would wrack Europe. The connections are somewhat fuzzy. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJun 2, 2019
The film’s formal qualities obscure Nemes’s intentions instead of illuminating them. It’s all too vague to function effectively as either a commentary on the build-up to the Great War or as the story of a woman looking to find her place in a city predicated on rigid, gender-determined hierarchies. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 5, 2018
With a filmmaker as intelligent and controlled as Nemes, Sunset has the assurance that everything has a place and the confusion is intended. But even this has a paradoxical effect. Read full review
60
VarietyJay WeissbergSep 3, 2018
The chaos is there but without the coherence necessary to balance sensorial turmoil with genuine meaning. Read full review
58
The PlaylistVictor StiffSep 9, 2018
Ultimately, the chilly Sunset recreates a version of 1913 Budapest that crackles with life but lacks spirit and emotional connection. Nemes shows viewers the smoke and then the fire but provides no reason for them to care about the world as it burns. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 26, 2019
Sunset was never going to be a thriller, and the Chekhov comparison is mainly due to the Eastern European theatricality of it all. This unfolds like a memory play on wheels, rolling through the cafe society, simmering political tensions and brave new (automobiles, electricity) world heedless that this world is about to end. Suddenly. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 24, 2019
Nemes’ subjective camera and long takes ironically make the film seem longer and lacking in any narrative substance that equals the filmmaker’s fastidious technical skills. Sunset hopefully gives rise to a new dawn for Nemes. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 5, 2019
Perhaps Nemes was hoping to let the precision of his intricately staged images artfully clash with the absurdity of a chaotic plot. But the result is more tedious than tense. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineBen LambertMar 17, 2019
László Nemes’s follow-up to Son of Saul simply feels like two films awkwardly affixed to one another. Read full review
40
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMar 23, 2019
Nemes wants to let the chaos and noise of Sunset overwhelm the audience, but like Irisz herself, it’s hard not to get a bit lost in the clamor. Read full review
40
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMar 21, 2019
While Nemes’s near-subjective technique can generate genuine tension, it more often yields anxious tedium. Read full review
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