76
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100L.A. WeeklyJohn PowersL.A. WeeklyJohn PowersJapón, isn’t just the wildest eruption of the current Mexican film boom, it's the most fascinating new picture I've seen this year.
- 88New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoDoesn't have the crossover appeal of the Mexican sexcapade "Y Tu Mama Tambien," but it does herald the arrival of an audacious young filmmaker. We can't wait to see what he does next.
- 88Chicago TribunePatrick Z. McGavinChicago TribunePatrick Z. McGavinThe work of a remarkable new talent. By the movie's towering, final tracking shot, this imaginative, dazzling film achieves distinction.
- 80VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyIts powerfully visual storytelling delivers great rewards as the meditative drama moves into increasingly complex, at times confrontational territory.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanA notably confident and achieved debut.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittIt's an engrossing and inventive drama despite its flaws.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerNew York Magazine (Vulture)Peter RainerReygadas is both a sophisticate and a primitive: He sets up his film as a religious allegory, with the nameless painter as a kind of suffering Christ and the old woman--whose name is Ascen, as in Ascension--as his redeemer.
- 70The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasA dense, challenging work by any measure, Japón snakes toward a justly celebrated final shot that's technically astonishing and immensely powerful, cementing the arrival of a promising new talent.
- 70The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensLuckily Mr. Reygadas has talent to match his ambitions; or, rather, gifts that undercut them sufficiently to give his film a prickly, haunting poignancy.
- 70TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxThis strange and beautifully expressive film set in a remote Mexican canyon has nothing whatsoever to do with Japan, but its themes are as universal as they come.