The Vertical Ray of the Sun
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 6, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Vertical Ray slows our rhythms and heightens our senses: it's a shimmering, tactile experience. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A wholly enveloping experience. Gentle, ravishingly beautiful and awash in everyday sensuality, it so intoxicates you with the elegance and refinement of its filmmaking that even noticing, let alone caring, whether it has a plot starts to seem beside the point. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's a simple story with complex reverberations and undercurrents, as secrets keep being revealed. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Underneath the ravishing imagery however, hearts are in flux. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
It's a bewildering but deeply satisfying paradox, this constant, nearly silent collision in Tran's films of the visible world and the turbulent, unseen world. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
There are scenes that simply ask the audience to drink in the details, to enjoy the repast, just as much as follow the plot. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
The magnificence of the film's pieces does not quite add up to a satisfying whole. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Much of the film is oddly ambiguous, as if Tran used it to explore conflicts of tradition and modernity and never came up with any answers. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianStaff (Not credited)
Tran's cinematography is delicate yet probing. Faces, especially eyes, tell much of the story. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The cinematography is gorgeous from first frame to last, but the story occasionally rings false. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Few filmmakers of the past 20 years have mesmerized as much in their use of crisp, color-drenched photography. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
Plays like a holy, erotic mood piece, steeped in so much subdued jungle fever that it practically runs on photosynthesis. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Made of a serene dynamite that's all but unknown to American film audiences. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Beautiful, languorous, passive -- it plays like background music for itself. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
An oblique, vaguely sorrowful study in domestic emotion, structured around the small eruptions of feeling -- tenderness, anger, and joy -- that punctuate the slow serenity of daily life. Read full review
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
For all its virtues, this is not a film to see on less than a good night's sleep. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Here's the downside, and it's not just me: You need a scorecard to keep track of the sisters, their brother, two husbands, a boyfriend, two (or three?) extramarital lovers. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Filled with bird sounds, Vertical Ray is almost surreal in its paradise imagery -- the movie is a sultry, harmoniously expressionistic riot of pale greens and deep yellows. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This sleepyheaded atmosphere, augmented by the languid songs of Lou Reed and Arab Strap, hangs so heavily over the film that the viewer is lulled into a state dangerously close to unconsciousness. Read full review
60
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
If you're looking for refuge from summer movie bombast, it's frequently intoxicating.
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Story is fairly conventional and not especially well told, though as usual Tran's images are so sensual and beautiful that I was rarely bored or frustrated. Read full review
More From This Movie

72 Critic Reviews

7.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL