Sworn Virgin
Strand Releasing | Release Date: April 22, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Village VoiceDiana ClarkeApr 21, 2016
Cutting between present, childhood, and recent past, Bispuri constructs a subtle, richly emotional collage. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineClayton DillardApr 18, 2016
Given its nearly episodic structure, formal choices, and similar thematic inquiries, Sworn Virgin suggests an unofficial remake of Vivre Sa Vie. Read full review
83
The Film StageMichael SnydelApr 27, 2016
Bispuri’s feature debut makes a powerful statement about the suffocation that can come with gender norms, and about the double-edged sword of gender performance. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangApr 21, 2016
Uplifting in a tiny, understated and very authentic way, Sworn Virgin shows us gently how its possible to be living in exile in the world you know best, and how it's possible to come home to a place you've never been before. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangApr 28, 2016
Skipping deftly between time frames while keeping her camera close to her protagonist — played with tremulous understatement by the remarkable actress Alba Rohrwacher — Bispuri traces a journey of delicate interior shifts and reversals. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 22, 2016
The real-life setup is a knockout, both ancient and timely, and even though Rohrwacher never quite passes — she looks too much like Barbra Streisand’s "Yentl" — the movie is on to a larger point, namely about the fluidity of sexual identity and our universal penchant for self-reinvention. The film builds slowly but deserves an audience eager to discuss it. Read full review
80
CineVuePatrick GambleApr 21, 2016
A poignant study of gender politics enshrined within an anthropologically fascinating drama. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungApr 21, 2016
It feels like every script-reader in the Italian-Swiss-German-Albanian-Kosovo coproduction cut out a line of dialogue in each scene, leaving behind an irritating silence and an enigmatic puzzle for the audience to second-guess. Read full review
60
Screen DailyLee MarshallApr 21, 2016
The script puts artsy effect before character credibility. Read full review
60
VarietyGuy LodgeApr 21, 2016
[A] sensitive, deliberate debut feature. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireApr 22, 2016
Sworn Virgin is not the first film to give the impression that, in current European art cinema, religion is the one subject that dare not speak its name. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergApr 21, 2016
Although Ms. Rohrwacher captures Mark’s uncertain, shifting physicality, the movie doesn’t always succeed in getting inside the character’s head. Read full review
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