The Embalmer
First Run Features | Release Date: July 18, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Skillfully directed and adroitly acted. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Garrone's movie finds a disconcerting niche between edgy character thriller and black comedy. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
Director Matteo Garrone's measured approach and soulfully humane focus combine to dignify the characters, allowing the tale of solitude, longing and sorrow to inch quietly under the viewer's skin. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A bummer, but one that manages to stick to its depraved convictions until the strange and bitter end. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
From start to finish Garrone charges The Embalmer, a richly visual film, with an effective ambiguity and sense of foreboding. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
At moments, the story skirts uncomfortably close to the grotesque. But this atmospheric oddity delivers a surprisingly sensitive take on the overwhelming ache of loneliness. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Mahieux gives a bravura performance as the title character. Director Garrone keeps the story involving even though it doesn't quite live up to the star's strong talents. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Director and co-writer Matteo Garrone infuses The Embalmer with a spooky eroticism. The film is dark, both in theme and visual composition. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The movie, a keen look at the way passion unravels and obsession destroys, creates a black mood, a sense of truth and an enduring chill that stay with you. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Masterful at concealing its true nature and surprising us with the turns of the story. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
An effectively macabre and fiendishly entertaining tale of lust, unrequited love and the fine art of taxidermy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The screenplay evokes this psychosexual power struggle with perfect accuracy and finely tuned performances. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Mahieux, who is superb, methodically paint Peppino as a man for whom solitude is torture. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderRonnie Scheib
By the film's underwater finale, director Matteo Garrone has bestowed a tragic stature on the pint-size Othello who loves "not wisely but too well." Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Both the actor and the character deserve a better movie, one that might have channeled the latter's desires into more than just a few rote genre thrills. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
A dark, unsettling drama from Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone. Read full review
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