82
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangIt's an absorbing, even thrilling head trip. It is a Heart-of-Darkness voyage of discovery. It is a lament for all the lost plants and peoples of the world.
- 100Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlColombian director Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent is a legitimate stunner, a river-trip that will mesmerize and jack with you, leaving you not quite certain, at its end, how to go about the rest of your day.
- 91The Film StageMichael SnydelThe Film StageMichael SnydelThe movie is more about how outsiders – whether consciously or unconsciously – exert control. The repercussions of colonialism hover over the text even as these characters have “noble” intentions.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyWhile its strange rhythms may not be for everyone, it does provide something unusual in today’s movies: a truly original experience for the mind and the soul.
- 80CineVueBen NicholsonCineVueBen NicholsonThe languorous pacing - particularly in the middle section - may lessen the impact on audiences somewhat, and the two-hour runtime seems a little much, but this is important, harrowing and deeply heartfelt lament that deserves to be seen and most definitely heard.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerIf the film runs a tad too long, especially in its second half, Embrace of the Serpent is still an absorbing account of indigenous tribes facing up to colonial incursions, revealing how Westerners are in many ways far behind the native peoples they conquer.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe going can be a bit slow at first, but the interweaving narratives, which comment on (and sometimes echo) each other, begin to develop a hypnotic grandeur. It’s a hell of a trip.
- 75Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneSlant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneCiro Guerra's excesses in arthouse symmetry tend to arrive in the service of a just and angry correctivism.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangThe film would nonetheless benefit from occasional tightening, its digressions and longueurs occasionally moving beyond the lyrical and into the belabored. Nevertheless, as a vision of the past, “Embrace of the Serpent” offers a stately, striking panorama and an entirely persuasive one.
- 67The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyOne just wishes it weren’t doing all the work for the viewer.