78
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanBlind Shaft means to leave the viewer dazed, and it does.
- 90The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottDeftly swings to a spartan, engrossing climax, and the final twists spell out what the murderers are made of and the setting responsible for creating them. It is a true piece of film magic.
- 88New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsA brilliantly spare and poignant tragicomedy that projects such savage self-criticism of China's "economic miracle" that the film has been banned at home.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttBlind Shaft, a well-acted and well-produced film, is a quiet though searing indictment of contemporary China.
- 80VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyHas a low-key power that comes as much from its off-handed approach to the dark material as from any manipulative techniques.
- 80TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxPowerful stuff from writer-director Li Yang that's both an uncompromising indictment of the human cost of China's evolving market economy and an nail-bitingly suspenseful thriller.
- 75New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickVariously been described as a thriller, a muckraking exposé and even a satire -- and its refusal to fit neatly into a genre is only part of why it's so utterly disturbing.
- 75Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrLess striking for its storyline than for the world it presents -- a rural moonscape of coal-dust, casual environmental disaster, and atavistic behavior.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerSan Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerGood storytelling.
- 60The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayA little slow for a crime story, and a little obvious with its anti-capitalism message.