Most critics respond warmly to Belle de Jour, with praise centred on Catherine Deneuve’s controlled performance and Buñuel’s dry, subversive handling of sexual desire and social hypocrisy. The reviews repeatedly admire the movement between fantasy and reality, finding its ambiguity compelling rather than confusing. Deneuve’s cool elegance is a recurring point of agreement, while the photography, colour, production design and editing also draw praise for giving the heroine’s double life such a precise visual form.
The spread runs from strong enthusiasm to qualified admiration, with only one mixed assessment and no negative reviews. The clearest reservation comes from the Los Angeles Times, which finds the film interesting and provocative but considers its detached, cerebral approach a limitation. Even that review praises the acting and use of colour; the disagreement is chiefly over how much Buñuel’s coolness limits the film’s impact.