Deftly swings to a spartan, engrossing climax, and the final twists spell out what the murderers are made of and the setting responsible for creating them. It is a true piece of film magic.
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A brilliantly spare and poignant tragicomedy that projects such savage self-criticism of China's "economic miracle" that the film has been banned at home.
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Blind Shaft, a well-acted and well-produced film, is a quiet though searing indictment of contemporary China.
Has a low-key power that comes as much from its off-handed approach to the dark material as from any manipulative techniques.
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Powerful stuff from writer-director Li Yang that's both an uncompromising indictment of the human cost of China's evolving market economy and an nail-bitingly suspenseful thriller.
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
New York PostLou Lumenick
Variously been described as a thriller, a muckraking exposé and even a satire -- and its refusal to fit neatly into a genre is only part of why it's so utterly disturbing.
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Less striking for its storyline than for the world it presents -- a rural moonscape of coal-dust, casual environmental disaster, and atavistic behavior.