81
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxBasilio narrates his tale with such wit and wisdom that one comes away from the film wondering how much youthful potential is slowly being choked to death deep within the bowels of the earth.
- 100Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThis beautiful, terrible story is not easily forgotten.
- 83The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonSo polished that it might pass for a scripted narrative feature, but that's not a bad thing. They found a remarkable spokesman in Bolivian teenager Basilio Vargas, and while his cogent, organized descriptions of his life, beliefs, history, and ambitions sometimes seem too calculated, at least they're calculated to communicate efficiently and appealingly.
- 80Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderA powerful indictment of the horrendous treatment of children who toil in hellish Bolivian silver mines. The filmmakers are better at fashioning haunting images than offering hard-nosed analysis, yet they never sentimentalize their young protagonists' plight.
- 80VarietyDeborah YoungVarietyDeborah YoungAn unforgettable journey through hell under the earth, where Satan is worshipped as king. Straight-as-an-arrow filmmaking raises this docu above the crowd.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckWhile political and social context is kept to a minimum, the darkly poetic images they capture speak volumes about what the miners go through.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoGuaranteed to leave you outraged at the way children - and, for that matter, adults - are exploited by mining companies.
- 70Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonPerhaps little more than an object lesson in the end, the movie's nevertheless a sobering day trip, more for its hints of a forgotten history of culture collision than its sensible but rote socioeconomic sympathies.
- A brave, sincere film that leaves you wishing that more light had been shed on the darkness.
- 70L.A. WeeklyErnest HardyL.A. WeeklyErnest HardyIt’s the captured conversations about everyday lives and struggles that pin you to your seat.