--- title: "Agora: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/agora/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/agora" critics_score: 64 critics_reviews: 13 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." --- # Agora (2009): what the critics said Critics' score 64 from 13 reviews: 6 positive, 6 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics lean cautiously positive. The reviews agree that this is an unusual historical epic, more interested in ideas than in battles, and nearly all of them read it as a parable about religious fundamentalism with a plain modern application. Rachel Weisz’s Hypatia is praised in almost every notice, including the harsher ones, and the production design and recreation of fourth-century Alexandria draw consistent admiration. The reservations cluster on the drama rather than the argument. Several critics find the style heavy, the supporting characters thin and the emotional temperature low, with the science sometimes crowding out the people. The spread is wide: The New York Times and The Guardian recommend it firmly, while Slant Magazine finds it pointless and dramatically slack, The AV Club calls it a shallow assault on Christianity that turns people into symbols, and The Telegraph judges it an ambitious mess. Only one review is outright negative, but half the reviews are mixed. ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 84/100 (inferred from the text). 27 May 2010. The critic finds the film a rousing, intellectually provocative drama that avoids easy genre categories and bristles with ideas and topical provocations. He highlights the central story of Hypatia pursuing cosmic mysteries amid personal and historical conflicts in ancient Alexandria. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/movies/28agora.html) ## Empire — Phil de Semlyen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 April 2010. The film offers a bold, thought-provoking return for director Amenábar and a timely assault on religious intolerance. It is always intelligent and a welcome comeback from the director of The Others. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/agora-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 April 2010. The critic finds it an ambitious and cerebral historical drama that stands out from typical sword-and-sandal epics by focusing on ideas and real drama rather than spectacle. Rachel Weisz's performance as Hypatia is singled out as outstanding. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/apr/22/agora-review) ## The Hollywood Reporter Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 May 2009. Festival review. The critic finds the film hampered by a heavy-handed opening and conventional epic tropes but values its timely parable on religious intolerance and fundamentalism, highlighting Rachel Weisz's strong performance as the intellectually passionate Hypatia. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/agora-film-review-93172/) ## The Times — Cosmo Landesman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 April 2010. The critic praises it as a thoughtful, adult film that reflects on religious extremism through its historical setting and natural dialogue, commending the avoidance of heavy spectacle. Weisz's performance is highlighted as strong, though the film lacks some intimacy with its central character. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/agora-xdh7xz3bsxd) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 67/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2009. Festival review. The review describes a visually imposing epic that ambitiously dramatizes a pivotal historical shift through Hypatia's story, with spectacular production values and clear parallels to modern religious fundamentalism. It notes the film's intellectual seriousness and impressive physical production but criticizes a certain heaviness of style and lack of emotional pulse. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/agora-1200474813/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 17 May 2009. Festival review. The critic views the film as an ambitious but flawed historical epic that shows the early church violently oppressing science, women and other faiths. It praises the top-notch production design and spectacle but criticises weak narrative cohesion, unconvincing accents and dense scientific focus that limits audience engagement. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/agora-/5001280.article) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 3/5. 20 April 2010. The critic finds Amenábar’s ancient-historical drama of ideas a sweeping but uneven recreation of 4th-century Alexandria, with strong visuals of volatility and impending violence. It singles out the acute portrayal of how religious fervour interrupts secular knowledge as its most welcome element, though supporting characters remain thin. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/agora) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. Amenábar only half succeeds with this lavish historical epic, as big budgets and subtlety seldom go together. Rachel Weisz gives an excellent performance as the polymath Hypatia whose work is destroyed by fundamentalism. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/learning-is-dangerous-in-agora-7419585.html) ## The AV Club — Tasha Robinson Rating C-. 15 July 2010. The review deems the film a shrill, shallow attack on Christianity that reduces characters to symbols, praising its cinematography and Weisz's charismatic lead performance while criticizing the lack of historical or dramatic coherence. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/agora-1798165482) ## The Telegraph Rating **. 22 April 2010. The review calls the film a highbrow mess despite its ambition and gumption, criticising its lack of common sense, clunky elements and failure to do its ideas justice. Some praise goes to individual images and performances amid the flaws. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/7620761/Agora-review.html) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 38/100 (inferred from the text). 24 May 2010. The critic calls the film an innocuous and pointless epic that fails to convincingly argue for reason over zealotry, singling out its weak dramatic conviction, listless melodrama, and mawkish messaging. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/agora/) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 13 April 2010. The critic praises the film's recreation of ancient Alexandria and its emphasis on the importance of questioning and humanism, while noting that the lead character can seem too ethereal and the script does not fully explore personal conflicts. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a214099/agora/) --- © 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/agora.md