Winter Sleep
Adopt Films | Release Date: December 19, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
88
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMay 21, 2015
Such miserable people; why should we care? Maybe because Ceylan does. By staging this petulant misery in a snow-filled world of melancholy, unearthly beauty, he underscores their tragedy. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayJan 29, 2015
The film serves not only as a mesmerizing escape into another world, but also a compelling, compassionate deep dive into human frailty and self-deception. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 23, 2015
Winter Sleep, winner of last year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes, runs almost 3-1/2 hours. These will be some of the best three-plus hours you will spend at any movie this year. I’ve seen movies half that length that felt twice as long. Read full review
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJan 9, 2015
Faithful to Chekhov, Ceylan spells out nothing except that unhappiness unrecognized is unhappiness compounded, and despite the film’s wintry chill, there’s a thrilling warmth in this struggle to shine a light on life. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 3, 2015
I love it, not simply because I love Chekhov or because I've loved so much of Ceylan's earlier work. I love it because the director, having come into his own as a master international filmmaker years ago, gives us so much to see and think about, so many astringent observations about life's compromises and longings. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 19, 2014
This movie struck me as both Ceylan’s plainest, and perhaps his finest. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 18, 2014
Winter Sleep belongs alongside “Boyhood” and “Inherent Vice” on the short list of the most powerful films of 2014. Calling a film “good” or “important” is subjective, of course, but this isn’t: All three are reaching for the kind of cinematic transcendence that exceeds language, that weaves together various art forms into an ascending spiral of meaning that cannot finally be captured or defined. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsGraham FullerDec 17, 2014
Winter Sleep won’t appeal to action lovers, but if you like endless verbal warfare, this is a joy. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 16, 2014
This patient, beautiful, painful, engrossing film pits husband and wife against each other and their world in a series of extended conversations/confrontations. Read full review
100
VarietyJustin ChangMay 24, 2014
Nuri Bilge Ceylan is at the peak of his powers with Winter Sleep, a richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful magnum opus that surely qualifies as the least boring 196-minute movie ever made. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJan 9, 2015
The screenplay, which Ceylan and his wife Ebru based on short stories by Anton Chekhov, is wordy but insightful. The widescreen cinematography, capturing the natural wonders that make Cappadocia a popular tourist destination, is crisp in exterior shots and delicately shaded indoors. And the performances are never less than totally convincing. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnMay 24, 2014
While it doesn't always earn its heft, Winter Sleep is both subdued and rich in details, its plot growing slowly over a series of extensive conversations. It's a robust, challenging experience he's been building toward with his previous features, as well as an adventurous step above them. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJan 22, 2015
Like so much of Ceylan's work, Winter Sleep is a haunting piece. Read full review
90
The DissolveScott TobiasDec 17, 2014
This isn’t merely about the follies of a misanthrope, it’s an epic tragedy about life in the Ivory Tower and the inability to understand—much less empathize with—other human beings. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoDec 12, 2014
Staring deep into the darkness of an apparently static character, Nuri Bilge Ceylan again exhibits his gift for making interesting stories out of predetermined plots, locating small eddies of change in the midst of eternally fixed dynamics. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramJan 9, 2015
Bleak but beautiful, this terrific chamber drama confirms Ceylan as one of world cinema’s leading lights. The bum-numbing length may intimidate, but there’s more than enough quality to offset it. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerNov 17, 2014
It will test your concentration, resolve and butt cheeks to the limit but Winter Sleep will reward your staying power: a perfectly played, beautiful-looking, exquisitely nuanced picture. Would make a great, if gruelling, decaying-wedlock double bill with "Gone Girl." Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 24, 2014
This is a beautiful, bold, intently serious film. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounMay 24, 2014
When the film gets outdoors, it soars, and Ceylan continues to dig with acute intelligence into the dark corners of everyday human behaviour. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungMay 24, 2014
The final half-hour is a joy to watch, as turning points follow in rapid succession. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 24, 2014
With a richness of characterisation usually reserved for hefty novels, each shot in Winter Sleep glows like a symbol, whilst each digression is almost a short story in itself. Read full review
80
The GuardianXan BrooksMay 24, 2014
In fits and starts, this is a stunning picture. At its best, Winter Sleep shows Ceylan to be as psychologically rigorous, in his way, as Ingmar Bergman before him. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeDec 18, 2014
Beautiful to look at, with its burnished interiors and magnificent Turkish steppes, this long film builds to a powerful conclusion. Ceylan’s characters grind each other to a powder while hardly raising their voices. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloDec 17, 2014
Epics tend to get extra respect — bonus points for ambition, one might say — and while Ceylan’s film is a decidedly intimate example of the genre, it was clearly perceived, in advance, as an important work just by virtue of its sheer heft. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 22, 2014
It may not always succeed, but the lovely, perplexing Winter Sleep is a very personal film from one of the world’s foremost filmmakers. It’s well worth your time. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 18, 2014
Mr. Ceylan performs this particular operation with rigorous solemnity, technical virtuosity and precision tools — his lapidary visual style rises to the challenge of the natural environment — yet there’s something missing from the very start, namely the spark of breathed-in life. Read full review
50
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 24, 2014
The overwriting of every single discussion smacks less of realistic debate than of a writer/director in the throes of a fit of didacticism who simply never trusts his audience to get his meaning without it being iterated and reiterated to the point of white noise. Read full review
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