86
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorIt feels a complete whole––a wry intertwining dialectic on modern desires––yet each scene is uniquely bracing: beautifully poised, exquisitely observed, and even erotically charged––rife with unabashed seduction, though always close enough to farce to keep things kösher and to keep you guessing (it’s telling that we barely glimpse a kiss).
- 90The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisWheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a perfect entry point into Hamaguchi’s work. Not every episode works equally well or hits as hard, but both times I watched this movie, I found something to admire, consider, argue with and weep over.
- 88Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenRyûsuke Hamaguchi’s film is an alternately scathing, erotic, terrifying, and affirming fable of the primordial power of storytelling.
- 88RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonRogerEbert.comOdie HendersonWheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a love letter to the art of spinning a good yarn, but it’s also a sharply observed paean to the lies and truths we tell ourselves so that we may function from day to day.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThis one is every bit as static and chatty as fans have come to expect; rooted to its two-actors-in-a-room reality, but also charming and characteristically unpredictable for the ways it wiggles free of it like a loose tooth.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis trio of stories is elegant and amusing, with a delicacy of touch and real imaginative warmth.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonWheel of Fortune and Fantasy is full of understated, melancholy poetry.
- 80Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterWheel Of Fortune And Fantasy allows Hamaguchi to return to themes he has explored in previous work from the way life is measured in twists of fate to a sense of duality in individual lives and characters.
- 75The A.V. ClubLawrence GarciaThe A.V. ClubLawrence GarciaHamaguchi’s deliberate disruptions of narrative flow are not crude storytelling gestures so much as attempts to create epiphanic moments out of time, where the rift between imagination and reality ceases to exist—at least until the wheel of fortune turns round once more.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeEach of these episodes is well acted, follows a reasonably conventional three-act structure and emphasizes interesting female characters in a compelling situation — which is more than can be said for many portmanteau films, where one segment is markedly more satisfying than the others. But it also suggests an ongoing resistance on Hamaguchi’s part to engage with the feature form itself.