BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

"It is made with real panache – so much so that you can forgive much of the film’s outrageous narcissism."

"Bardo is a technical marvel – but its constant stream of ideas is an attempt to hide the fact that it has nothing much to say."

"The thing that most readily identifies Bardo as an Iñárritu movie is the virtuosic way it adopts greatness as a genre instead of earning it as a reward."

"Yes, the blatantly autobiographical Bardo is acrimoniously self-indulgent. But it needs to be. The pained ache of diaspora can only be soothed by unbeatable arrogance..."

"The movie is full of good things, but it’s three hours long and mostly it’s full of itself."

"Bardo is an incoherent grab-bag of visual metaphors delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer."

"It’s a defiantly singular piece, rangy and disconnected and meta..."

"A film about the sheer hell of being an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning Mexican director. Is this the ultimate cinematic humblebrag?"

"Exhausting but exhilarating..."

"Though ambitious and visually stunning... it’s wilfully elusive and unwieldy to the point of frustrating."