Tropical Malady
Strand Releasing | Release Date: June 29, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyDeborah Young
Takes the viewer on a mysterious and sporadically fascinating trip into the darkness of the human heart and Thai legend. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Weerasethakul's latest has received mixed responses on the film-festival circuit, yet while it's anything but commercial, it's also anything but unadventurous. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
An entirely unconventional, hypnotic, meandering film. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
A film more textural than narrative, it's for viewers willing to lose themselves in a truly sensual jungle experience. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderPatrick Z. McGavin
A spellbinding, beautiful, enigmatic film with a mysterious, allusive two-part structure. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
By the movie’s end, the aching mixture of loneliness and desire transcends the immanent to embrace the metaphysical, a move that is a Weerasethakul signature. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
If you enjoy intelligent, challenging filmmaking, Tropical Malady is for you. Read full review
80
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Like "Blissfully Yours" and Apichatpong's first feature, the exquisite-corpse road movie "Mysterious Object at Noon" (2000), Tropical Malady promotes new ways of seeing. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Shows a young filmmaker pushing at the limits of cinematic narrative with grace and a certain amount of puckish willfulness. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
"All of us are by nature wild beasts. We must be like animal trainers and teach ourselves tricks alien to our bestiality." Cutting-edge Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul uses this quote from the novelist Ton Nakajima to introduce his entrancing third feature. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Mysterious and original. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
In light of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's young career, it's fitting that his beguiling, transfixing romantic fable Tropical Malady splits down the middle into two radically different halves. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
It took me two viewings to enjoy the landscape of Weerasethakul's mysterious jungle -- so very thick, steamy, and foreign -- without wishing for clearer trail markers. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
This challenging, inventive movie from Thailand is not for everyone. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's a haunted picture, one that feels inhabited not just by actors and scenery but by spirits, too. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
Extremely slow--unbearably so at certain points. And even when there's no action, there's very little dialogue, and we're asked to follow the disjointed and dreamlike story line without the help of anything resembling a narrative. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Certainly for most audiences the viewing experience will prove not only tedious but bewildering. Read full review
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