75
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichIts stunningly composed images showing how Isaac is himself something of a ghost-given to staring off into the distance, being condescended to by those around him, a man perpetually outside the times. What he needs is to take that one extra step toward his spectral siren; the scene in which he does so might be one of the most exhilarating visions of death's sweet embrace ever filmed.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasThis fresh, highly original film, inspired by Oliveira's substantially different, never-filmed 1952 script, has been made with the greatest of ease and simplicity and with drollery and wit, yet its underlying impact is profoundly spiritual.
- 88Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley Morris"Angélica" feels most like the film that argues Oliveira is this close to the beyond without ever bothering to knock first at death's door.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayToo shaggy at times, with digressions into science and history that come out flat and awkward. But there's a sweet, unshakeable poetry in the main idea of the film.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoA captivating mix of formality, ambiguity and offbeat humor. On the surface a simple fable, it's actually much more.
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottThe charm of The Strange Case of Angelica lies in the way it balances this mysticism with a thoroughly secular sense of the business of everyday life.
- 70Village VoiceNick PinkertonVillage VoiceNick Pinkertonde Oliveira's film is a musical of a sort, its quietude occasionally lifted by work songs or chorales.
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)An uneven but intriguing piece of whimsy that veers from powerfully symbolic cinematography into self parody.