The Sacrifice
Orion Classics | Release Date: November 5, 1986 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
BBCJonathan Trout
It is a difficult film - slow-paced, unashamedly theatrical and heavily laden with philosophy – yet a profoundly satifying one: a rewarding display of filmmaking mastery that forms a mystical and enigmatic coda to a legendary career. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The Sacrifice is not the sort of movie most people will choose to see, but those with the imagination to risk it may find it rewarding. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
It is brilliant and audacious, with one of the most extraordinary final sequences in modern cinema, and all in a manner which Hollywood in the succeeding decade would learn to call "high concept". Read full review
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
Like much of the filmmaker’s work (not to mention Bergman’s), The Sacrifice is haunted by the gap between human yearning and ultimate understanding, between the way things are and the way we long for them to be. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
THE SACRIFICE is about a number of things, none obvious and none remaining wholly consistent from one viewing to the next; it is a poetic vision, filled with the symbolism peculiar to Tarkovsky's imagination. It is also a visually stunning, hauntingly beautiful, brilliant piece of art. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
As he was dying, Tarkovsky fashioned this great valedictory about a family in the first stages of nuclear apocalypse and a father's ultimate sacrifice. [31 Jan 2003, p.C4]
100
Total FilmStaff (Not Credited)
For all its Swedish trimmings, the long, syrup-slow takes are unmistakably Tarkovsky’s, and it’s these that provide this arthouse disaster movie with its mesmerising power. Read full review
90
The New YorkerRichard Brody
The blend of midlife crisis and existential terror is reminiscent of the films of Ingmar Bergman, but Tarkovsky makes it a world of his own. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
In The Sacrifice, the cryptic Tarkovsky style helps create a towering cathedral. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
By the time “The Sacrifice” comes full circle it emerges itself as a symbolic gesture of great emotional impact. We may share Alexander’s sense of impotence, but Tarkovsky turns such feelings into a work of art. Read full review
80
The New York TimesWalter Goodman
It may not be your glass of tea; it's a tall glass, through which events are seen murkily. Those who stay with it, however, may find rewards in burst after burst of beauty and even a glimmer of meaning. Read full review
80
Paste MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The few insecurities in the filmmaking, which stick out in contrast to his Russian works, are easily overlooked by how masterful other scenes are and the impressiveness of the imagery. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Tarkovsky pulls you into a dark, foreboding nightmare and Nykvist gives that nightmare an explosive awakening. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
As with Nostalghia, Tarkovsky’s previous work of exile, it’s possible to balk at the filmmaker’s pretensions and antiquated sexual politics and yet be overwhelmed by his mastery and originality, as well as the conviction of his sincerity. Read full review
80
EmpireNick Dawson
As involving and intellectually rich as all Tarkovsky's work. Read full review
80
The IndependentAnthony Quinn
An austere and appropriate rumination on leave-taking and loss. [07 Dec 2007, p.20]
80
The Observer (UK)Philip French
This humourless, portentous, beautifully made and exquisitely acted movie won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, though when the men in white coats came to take Josephson away, some sardonic observers thought they'd come for Tarkovsky. [12 Jan 2003, p.8]
75
Slant MagazineCarson Lund
In Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, the distance from hope to despair is a short jump—a chasm crossed with the help of something so immediate as a television transmission. Read full review
60
Time OutWally Hammond
However great is Tarkovsky’s mastery of mise-en-scène, or astounding his use of sound composition, it appears dehumanised and not a little egocentric, closer to a study of madness and self-delusion than, as I believe Tarkovsky hoped, an illustration of the power of faith and self-sacrifice. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Though bookended by extraordinarily powerful scenes that play off a potent religious metaphor, the middle section sinks into a morass of ill-defined relationships and uneven performances, which may be blamed in part on culture clash. Read full review
40
Washington PostHal Hinson
For all its stunning, poetic imagery, it's almost impossible to sit through. Read full review
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