Critic Reviews

• Derek Adams, Time Out

  For those willing to acccept the tenets of Tarkovsky's cinema of spiritual quest, his esoteric notions of Christian iconography and his obscure approach to cinematic meaning, the film can seem nothing less than miraculous.

• Walter Goodman, New York Times

  The Sacrifice is a stunningly beautiful film that holds your attention even while you feel slightly stunned, in a less welcome way, by what is actually going on.

• Desson Thomson, Washington Post

  Tarkovsky pulls you into a dark, foreboding nightmare and Nykvist [Bergman's former cameraman] gives that nightmare an explosive awakening.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  The Sacrifice is not the sort of movie most people will choose to see, but those with the imagination to risk it may find it rewarding.

• Hal Hinson, Washington Post

  It's a paradox: a sublime failure. For all its stunning, poetic imagery, it's almost impossible to sit through.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  At least close to being a great film. It's a film that lingers in the mind -- not in the least because it's so open to interpretation.

• Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine

  The few insecurities in the filmmaking, which stick out in contrast to his Russian works, are easily overlooked by how masterful other scenes are and the impressiveness of the imagery.

• Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

  Visually potent ... humblingly vast ... [and yet] the movie oscillates between compelling our thunderstruck confidence and testing our patience with unfulfilled promise and highbrow clichés.

• Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

  Tarkovsky punctuates this so-called "plot" with many, many stunningly poetic images, mostly filmed in long takes with delicate tracking shots.

• Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

  Tarkovsky's last film, a spiritual meditation about the end of the world and a new beginning, bears resemblance to Ingmar Bergman's work, not least beacuse of its themes and lead actor and cinematographer.

• David Gritten, Independent

  It's long, stately and po-faced (all reasons why Tarkovsky seems faintly unfashionable these days), but if it's extended, beautifully composed tracking shots you want, he's your man.

• Anthony Quinn, Independent

  Invaluable pointers on narrative patience, spiritual yearning and technical finesse.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  Brilliant and audacious, with one of the most extraordinary final sequences in modern cinema.

• , Film4

  A fitting epitaph for a great artist. Every frame could be hung on a wall, the script is supremely thoughtful and the performances are universally excellent.

• Jonathan Trout, BBC

  A difficult film - slow-paced, unashamedly theatrical and heavily laden with philosophy - yet a profoundly satifying one: a rewarding display of filmmaking mastery that forms a mystical and enigmatic coda to a legendary career.

• , Total Film

  For all its Swedish trimmings, the long, syrup-slow takes are unmistakably Tarkovsky's, and it's these that provide this arthouse disaster movie with its mesmerising power.

• Rob Daniel, Sky Movies

  Tarkovsky's film will be forever confined to a dark cul-de-sac in the arthouse ghetto because of its sheer monotony.

• Nick Dawson, Empire Magazine

  As involving and intellectually rich as all Tarkovsky's work.

• Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

  heavy-going but brilliantly realized masterpiece.

Read all 19 critic reviews