72
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungKim Ki-duk is back in fighting form in Pieta, an intense and, for the first hour, sickeningly violent film that unexpectedly segues into a moving psychological study.
- 80VarietyLeslie FelperinVarietyLeslie FelperinThe final reel packs a genuine emotional wallop, even as it makes auds laugh with the vicious precision of its dramatic irony.
- 80Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghArizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghEven if its stunted ambitions come as a disappointment, Pieta nevertheless is an expertly crafted thriller and a fine addition to East Asian revenge cinema.
- 67Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThe performances of these two leads are compelling and the Cheonggyecheon area can almost be seen as another character in Kim’s morality tale. And even if forgiveness is not always possible in the human condition, Pieta allows that expiation of one’s sins is within the realm of the possible.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichStick with the film, though, and you might find yourself strangely moved by its oddball mix of ripe melodrama, overwrought violence and regional verisimilitude.
- 60Village VoiceNick SchagerVillage VoiceNick SchagerAfter establishing a central parent-child relationship rife with wacko biblical undertones, the director finds nowhere to take his story except into standard vengeance territory.
- 58The PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe PlaylistOliver LytteltonThe film contains some memorable moments, and a pair of fine performances, but it’s hard not to feel that it would have proved more successful if it had stayed on the path it was heading down for the first forty minutes or so.
- 12Slant MagazineSlant MagazineKim Ki-duk's film makes an exaggerated, undeserved show of its cruelty, indignity, and aspirations of importance.