70
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisBrilliant, bizarre, dazzling and utterly demented, The Last Circus views Franco-era Spain through the crazed eyes of two clowns doing battle for the love of one magnificent woman.
- 90Village VoiceVillage VoiceBaroquely sinister and grotesquely funny, the latest overstimulated bout of dark comic mayhem from writer-director Álex de la Iglesia (Common Wealth, The Day of the Beast) is a stunning funhouse-mirror allegory of Franco-era Spain that makes "Pan's Labyrinth" look like "Sesame Street."
- 90SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirIt's also possible, I suppose, that a movie as deranged and grotesque and spectacular as Álex de la Iglesia's near-masterpiece The Last Circus, an overcooked allegory that's been dialed to 11 in all directions, simply doesn't appeal to you. But if you like your baroque sex and violence with a side dish of heavy-duty symbolism, and if the idea of an unholy collaboration between, say, Guillermo del Toro, Federico Fellini and William Castle appeals to you, then put The Last Circus on your must-see list right now.
- 75Slant MagazineNick SchagerSlant MagazineNick SchagerSubscribes to the belief that moderation is a four-letter word, flying about with an abandon that begets exhilaration as well as exhausting messiness.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe Last Circus features garish costumes, grotesque ultraviolence and plenty of other assorted weirdness. Although not everybody's glass of sangria, it has the making of a cult hit.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichInventive yet exhausting tale of two circus clowns.
- 60New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierBefore going off in conventional directions, "Circus" is terrifically weird, funny and garish. Bozo and Clarabelle it ain't.
- Areces is inventive and scary in main role, though it's impossible to sympathize with his madness. Other performances are gaudy but perfunctory.