Garrone's movie finds a disconcerting niche between edgy character thriller and black comedy.
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
VarietyDavid Rooney
Director Matteo Garrone's measured approach and soulfully humane focus combine to dignify the characters, allowing the tale of solitude, longing and sorrow to inch quietly under the viewer's skin.
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
A bummer, but one that manages to stick to its depraved convictions until the strange and bitter end.
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
At moments, the story skirts uncomfortably close to the grotesque. But this atmospheric oddity delivers a surprisingly sensitive take on the overwhelming ache of loneliness.
Mahieux gives a bravura performance as the title character. Director Garrone keeps the story involving even though it doesn't quite live up to the star's strong talents.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Director and co-writer Matteo Garrone infuses The Embalmer with a spooky eroticism. The film is dark, both in theme and visual composition.
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
An effectively macabre and fiendishly entertaining tale of lust, unrequited love and the fine art of taxidermy.
Both the actor and the character deserve a better movie, one that might have channeled the latter's desires into more than just a few rote genre thrills.