72
Metascore
30 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyWhile the investigative midsection slumps just a little, El Conde remains a spellbinding and mischievously spry spin on a deadly serious subject from a director who, in his tenth feature, continues to come up with audacious surprises.
- 85The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeThe Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeIt’s no easy thing to mine humor out of historical tragedy, but El Conde finds a zone that allows for rueful chuckles over humanity’s cruelty without ever being glib about Chile’s dark past.
- 83The PlaylistRafaela Sales RossThe PlaylistRafaela Sales RossIf in his previous films about the regime Larraín often opted for subtlety, in El Conde elusiveness is a foreign notion. It is thrilling to watch the director repeatedly hit the nail in the head without much desire—or care—to engage with subtext.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriBeneath all the genre theatrics, what comes through most vividly in El Conde are Larraín’s sadness and rage at what happened to his country.
- 80VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangAs a magnificently unlovable art-house object, El Conde is perhaps best approached as a challenge: Run the gauntlet if you dare, and if, at the other end, you emerge dazed and disturbed rather than straightforwardly entertained, perhaps those are just the splinters you get when you try to stake a vampire.
- 77The Daily BeastNick SchagerThe Daily BeastNick SchagerA stylishly pessimistic portrait of one man’s villainy and, just as stingingly, the way in which it infected all that he touched—as if through the very blood.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichEl Conde isn’t big on subtlety (Lachman’s rich cinematography offers the film its only shades of gray), and so it feels like a missed opportunity that Larraín didn’t squeeze more juice from the all-too-relevant fact that deposing a fascist from power isn’t the same as defeating them.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThis is another powerful addition to Larraín’s movies about the ongoing agony of Chile, and the Chilean people’s struggle to confront the past, armed with the hammer and the sharpened stake.
- 50Slant MagazineGreg NussenSlant MagazineGreg NussenThe film never really leans into the farcical possibilities of its premise nor its earnest appraisal of Augusto Pinochet’s legacy.
- 50Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganEl Conde comes across as a well-funded toyshop for Larrian to play in, indulging flights of fantasy, paying homage, and exacting a retribution which could, should, have been a far more effective sandblast from a man who has spent much of his creative life holding this particular vampire to account.