Unknown Pleasures
New Yorker Films | Release Date: March 26, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Unknown Pleasures suggests a coolly formalist reinvention of neorealism. The film is both distanced and immediate -- a fiction with the force of documentary. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A stunning study of ennui. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
There's a telling disjunction between the dismal lives of Jia's characters and the optimism of China's officially sunny advance into the 21st century, and their helplessness often becomes a pathetic pantomime. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Much like his overrated 2000 opus "Platform," Unknown Pleasures spends more energy fussing over the backdrop than on the poor souls languishing in the fore, who have little to do but wander aimlessly and symbolically as life passes them by. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
There are several small, startling moments of insight hidden amid the long, slow stretches of listlessness. But the balance is slightly off. We could have used a little more pleasure to get us through his grim adolescent unknown. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Perhaps the world doesn't need another picture on disaffected youth, but Pleasures is about more than alienation. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleC.W. Nevius
The story goes nowhere...We don't understand the motivation of the characters. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
This sequel to Jia's excellent 1997 drama "Xiao Wu" is less original and absorbing than its predecessor, and less visually impressive than "Platform," his 2000 look at Chinese sociopolitical change. Read full review
50
VarietyDavid Rooney
As lethargic as the characters it portrays, the film requires greater staying power than many audiences will possess. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The film drags and lingers and goes more or less nowhere, imitating its protagonists' lives so exactly that you want to give them both a good smack. Read full review
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