--- title: "21 Grams: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/21-grams/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/21-grams" critics_score: 65 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # 21 Grams (2003): what the critics said Critics' score 65 from 16 reviews: 10 positive, 4 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics respond positively to 21 Grams, with the strongest agreement centred on the performances by Penn, Watts and Del Toro. Even several sceptical reviews credit the actors with giving the film emotional force. Praise also gathers around its treatment of grief, guilt and faith, with supporters finding intimacy and moral complexity in the interconnected lives. The fragmented storytelling earns admiration for its ambition and, for some, makes the characters’ distress more affecting. That structure also produces the sharpest disagreement, and the spread of opinion is wide. Empire regards the editing and direction as central to the film’s success; Slant Magazine finds the puzzle-like construction a substitute for emotional depth. More moderate reservations concern accumulating melodrama, strained spiritual symbolism and a story that becomes overwrought. The New Yorker rejects the fractured approach more decisively, finding that neither the sincerity nor the strong acting makes the story work. ## Empire — Rob Fraser Rating Superb. The critic praises the film's fragmented narrative structure and emotional power, hailing it as a quantum leap from Amores Perros that weaves fate, guilt, revenge and redemption into a riveting experience. Standout performances from Penn, Del Toro and Watts, along with flawless editing and direction, make it astonishing and essential viewing. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/21-grams-review/) ## The New York Times — Elvis Mitchell Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 18 October 2003. Festival review. The film is a ruminative look at life after devastating loss, with the three stars achieving virtuosity in depicting people wasting away. It plumbs depths of intimacy rarely touched by filmmakers. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/18/movies/film-festival-review-hearts-incapacitated-souls-wasting-away.html) ## Radio Times Rating 4/5. The film aspires to understand the human soul through a non-linear mosaic narrative linking three lives after a tragic accident. Fine performances from the leads deliver an astonishing account of faith and redemption. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ejohn8/21-grams/) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2003. The review praises the raw emotional power and mournful atmosphere as the film explores how a fatal accident ricochets through interconnected lives, positioning it as an actor's showcase. The three leads' complex, intense performances are highlighted as matching the film's thematic ambition. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/21-grams-1798199109) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 4/5. 5 March 2004. The non-linear structure and three outstanding lead performances create an arresting, accomplished film that grips the viewer's attention through its exploration of shattered lives after a tragedy. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/mar/05/3) ## Evening Standard — Neil Norman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. Iñárritu evolves a unique stylistic identity in this English-language follow-up, controlling a complex, multitiered screenplay about characters united by trauma, though it accumulates melodrama and relies too heavily on a concluding voice-over. Less feral than Amores Perros but with a firm grasp on human strengths and frailties. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-soul-survivors-7436254.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Manohla Dargis Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2003. Fate is a noose for guilty and innocent alike in this brutal film, redeemed by the devastating power of the three lead performances that give it rough, raw beauty. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-21-et-manohla21-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2003. The non-linear structure is a mixed success that sometimes feels like a stunt, but the film survives thanks to its tormenting story and powerful performances by Penn, Del Toro and Watts. It grips, moves and astonishes despite reservations about the fractured technique. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/21-grams-2003) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2003. Festival review. Emotionally draining yet formally brilliant, the film builds complex moral depth through intertwined stories but sacrifices some of the raw energy of the director's debut. Standout performances, particularly Del Toro's, elevate this dark and edgy work. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/21-grams/4015006.article) ## Sight and Sound — Paul Julian Smith Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The film is a formally ambitious drama that tests fragmentation to the limit while tackling abstract questions of guilt, identity and divine justice. Its strength lies in virtuoso performances and a poetic visual style that offers glimmers of hope amid bleak moral enquiry. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/1001) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The non-linear structure is initially compelling and the performances, especially from Watts and Del Toro, riveting, but the film strains into conventional melodrama after its emotional peak. The spiritual symbolism and gritty camerawork create a fervent but uneven experience. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/21-grams) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 2004. The film tackles weighty themes of grief, guilt and sacrifice through intersecting stories sparked by a traffic accident, but feels overcooked with its time-jumping structure that sometimes dictates rather than serves the content. Strong acting from Watts and Del Toro provides plenty to chew on despite the flaws. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/21-grams-review/) ## Variety — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2003. Festival review. The ambitiously non-linear structure forms a fascinating puzzle about grief, guilt and redemption that becomes overextended and overwrought, but commands admiration for its craftsmanship and potent performances. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2003/film/awards/21-grams-3-1200539526/) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Rating 1/4. 15 September 2003. The critic faults the film's disjointed, non-chronological structure for prioritizing puzzle-like entertainment over emotional depth and for over-relying on religious metaphors without substance. Strong performances by the leads are singled out as the main redeeming quality amid the misery. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/21-grams/) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2003. The non-linear structure turns a grim, overwrought story into an arrogant failure that does not work even on the simplest level for the audience, despite great sincerity and strong acting. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/11/24/close-to-the-end) ## Eye for Film — David Haviland Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 2 February 2004. The critic views it as a thoughtful meditation on death with complex characters and striking cinematography, but finds it fails to engage as a story because the conclusion is known early, with selfish characters and a depressing, fatalistic message. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/21-grams-film-review-by-david-haviland) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/21-grams.md