86
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayIt remains a rapturous, near-indescribable work of cinematic art, spun from a simple story about nuns who travel to the Himalayas to start a school and a hospital, only to have mountain winds and native mysticism weaken their confidence and their faith.
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe co-directors created from Rumer Godden's novel an extraordinary melodrama of repressed love and Forsterian Englishness - or rather Irishness - coming unglued in the vertiginous landscape of South Asia.
- 100Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichFor Powell and Pressburger, the personal and the political—much like their distinctive mix of high and low artistry—weren’t separate bedfellows: Even a marvelously entertaining tale of repressed abbesses on the edge could explore, with enduring resonance and profundity, an empire losing its grip.
- 100EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasSexual tension hangs in the air as the wind blows and native drums beat, but it's on a visual level that the film excels.
- 100Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierSlant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierBlack Narcissus impishly keeps watch over the Archers’ canon with a sunken, rabidly prismatic eye.
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineAn odd, unsettling film which suggests the dangers of both emotional restraint and unchecked passion, Black Narcissus is also one of the most visually beautiful films ever made in color.
- 90The New YorkerMichael SragowThe New YorkerMichael SragowThis is a landmark of Hollywood-on-Thames trompe-l’oeil.
- 75Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrFilms on this subject are generally solemn and naive, but director Michael Powell and writer Emeric Pressburger bring wit and intelligence to it.