77
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyDeborah YoungVarietyDeborah YoungA mystifying film that holds the audience in suspense over where it's going and what it might mean for almost its entire running time.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe blessings of salvation have rarely felt so mixed, the parameters of Lolita-hood so elusive - which is exactly Martel's specialty.
- 90The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensThe Holy Girl may occasionally frustrate your desire for clarity and order, but in the end it will reward your patience, and you leave the theater in a state of quiet awe.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanNot the least remarkable thing about this deadpan, deceptively haphazard ensemble comedy, a movie as much choreographed as directed, is the way that--at the final moment--the mist simply evaporates.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirIt's a marvelously acted film, driven by a sweaty-palmed, exponentially mounting tension.
- 80L.A. WeeklyL.A. WeeklyIt's a style at once ravishing and mysterious, austere and intimate, carrying with it the suggestion that even cinema may be powerless to invade the most clandestine antechambers of human behavior.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe Holy Girl ends without resolution, but one isn't needed in this mature, thoughtful drama.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyA film that leaves cinephiles breathless and the mainstream movie maniacs scratching their heads.
- 63New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsAlche has an amazingly expressive face and becomes such a magnetic presence that you'll feel a distinct need to rescue her.
- 40TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghIn stripping her potentially lurid material of salacious appeal, Martel also makes it murky and oddly arid, a mind-numbing exercise rather than an experience.