72
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoIt's not always clear exactly what's happening in this dark tale, full of barking dogs and slabs of meat. But you won't be able to take your eyes from the screen; nor will you quickly forget this fiercely original eye-popper.
- 80The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisAs opaque as it is mesmerizing, 4 demands open eyes and open minds, but neither is it as difficult as all its weighty silences, oblique detours and countless images of glistening, sweating animal flesh - Mother Russia's raw and seriously overcooked - might suggest.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirIt's another blast of vibrant, vicious, gloomy electricity from the always-surprising Russian film scene, and the beginning of an important career.
- But most important, for the adventurous moviegoer, it's more than apparent throughout this inventive, hypnotic and queasily funny portrayal of socioeconomic chaos that this director is a talent to watch.
- 80Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumPuzzling, intriguing, and often compelling, apparently set in the present but magical and futuristic in tone.
- 75Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrImmense, mystical, and deranged beyond immediate comprehension, Ilya Khrzhanovsky's 4 is an apocalyptic allegory of Mother Russia and its current state of squalid exhaustion.
- 70Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanAlthough Khrzhanovsky has several tricks up his sleeve, 4's most provocative quality is its ironic surplus of beauty.
- 70VarietyVarietyIts bawdy comedy, bravura sound design and uncanny atmosphere will turn on auds with a taste for deeply oddball fare and baffle others.
- 63TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxLooks great but has a shambolic, off-kilter feel that might not be entirely intentional, and is alternately tedious and shocking.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayIn spite of a handful of striking images--4 never resolves into anything special.