Vitalina Varela

critic Reviews

, 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score
  • Rigorous and beautifully composed, Vitalina Varela is a quietly absorbing drama whose placid surface belies hidden depths.
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Adam NaymanThe Ringer
    Costa-who is one of the great image makers-visualizes that sense of relief and renewal beautifully. It's amazing how powerful the sight of blue skies can be after being plunged into endless night.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Jake WilsonThe Age (Australia)
    The enduring paradox of Costa's work is that this setting has its own irresistible glamour, reminiscent of fashion photography; the people he films are his models.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Joe MorgensternWall Street Journal
    Vitalina Varela is demanding, rewarding, and ineffably stirring.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Peter BradshawGuardian
    Almost all of the film takes place at night, except the very end, when there is daylight and even sunlight. The result is weirdly moving.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Danny LeighFinancial Times
    Costa remains a master of digital chiaroscuro, of political ghost stories - and of the lives other films leave outside the frame.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Mark AschLittle White Lies
    Rich, mysterious, rigorous and generous.
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Dennis Harvey48 Hills
    A painterly minimalist drama...
    Read full article
  • , Rotten Tomatometer Score
    Yasser MedinaCinefilia
    Far from the tenebrist plasticity that adds poetry with chiaroscuro, it seems to me a leaden, futile and overwhelmingly lethargic docufiction exercise from Costa. [Full review in Spanish]
    Read full article
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Benjamín HarguindeyEscribiendoCine
    The film elicits oppression and anguish, but in its search, it also allows (literal) rays of hope. [Full review in Spanish]
    Read full article
  • , Rotten Tomatometer Score
    Vadim RizovFilmmaker Magazine
    It’s a somber world with unnerving undertones, designed for awe and discomfort in equal measure, which is very justifiable. If I emerged in a fog, that’s by design—still, this isn’t the exhaustion I crave.
    Read full article