70
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Slant MagazineOleg IvanovSlant MagazineOleg IvanovEiichi Yamamoto's cult anime strikes a perfect balance between midnight-movie enchantment and arthouse sophistication.
- 83The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyPerhaps too ambitious for its own good (or at least its budget), the film is impossible to dismiss, even if it exhausts its reserve of ideas.
- 83IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThere's an undeniable genius at work here, strong enough to survive the psychedelic sleaze that's been baked into every frame.
- 80The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyBelladonna of Sadness is compulsively watchable, even at its most disturbing: The imagery is frequently graphic, and still, after over 40 years, it has the power to shock.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe artwork is achingly delicate, but there's nothing subtle about Belladonna of Sadness, a blast of psychedelic madness full of rape, tyranny and Satanism.
- For those up for an adventure into the LSD-influenced world of counterculture animation, Belladonna of Sadness is a curious artifact that, after 43 years, remains a glorious mindf--k.
- 75The Film StageAmanda WaltzThe Film StageAmanda WaltzFor all its overindulgence in depravity, Belladonna stands as both an important forebear to a now-beloved genre and a confused, albeit earnest tribute to those who dare defy authority in order to elevate themselves.
- 63RogerEbert.comRogerEbert.comThat mashup — of feminine beauty and insanity-inducing toxicity —is a good cipher for everything about Belladonna of Sadness (“Kanashimi no Balladonna”).
- 50Village VoiceSimon AbramsVillage VoiceSimon AbramsYou can fully enjoy Belladonna of Sadness if you either overlook or participate in the objectification of a gorgeous victim.
- 50Los Angeles TimesCharles SolomonLos Angeles TimesCharles SolomonBelladonna of Sadness is an interesting curiosity from the early days of modern anime, but material that may have seemed daring and adult in the era of Disney's “Robin Hood” and “Snoopy, Come Home” looks exploitative and misogynistic 43 years later.