Embrace of the Serpent (2015)

The critic calls the film a near-faultless anthropological adventure and character mystery that offers a poignant condemnation of colonialism as a teemingly rich tribute to a lost world. It singles out the indigenous shaman protagonist and the crisp, sumptuous black-and-white photography for particular praise.

The critic praises the film's dreamlike, psychedelic exploration of two parallel expeditions through the Amazon, reversing typical imperialist perspectives via the shaman Karamakate as guide. It highlights the rich character of Karamakate and the film's evocative black-and-white imagery and cultural commentary.

The critic praises the film as majestic and spellbinding for its deconstruction of colonial horror through the eyes of a shaman confronting the despoliation of the Amazon. It singles out the striking black-and-white cinematography of the river journeys and the morally complex central figure of Karamakate.

The film is a haunting, beautifully shot work that blends mystical and surreal elements with real-life explorer journals. It contrasts Western and indigenous views of time through two journeys along the Amazon.

The critic calls the film beautiful, strange, and disturbing as a lament and warning about destroyed Amazon tribes, blending a passionate attack on invasive capitalism with an adventure story. It singles out the strikingly photographed black-and-white epic and the charisma of the actors playing the shaman across two timelines.

Watching the film is like flicking through a family album while on drugs: intimate and bizarre. Guerra uses humour and elegant monochrome visuals to portray a complex shaman who is the last of his tribe.

The film turns the traditional Amazon adventure yarn on its head by centering an indigenous protagonist and shooting in black and white. It offers a poetic corrective to colonialist images while depicting the ravages of rubber barons and ending on a visually striking note.

The critic hails the film as one of the year’s most potent and strikingly original, an exquisitely rendered study of colonialism, memory and cultural erasure. It singles out the complex dual-timeline structure and the mind-expanding final colour sequence for praise.

The critic highlights the film's ambitious scope tracing the domino effects of colonial violence across generations and its just and angry correctivism, while noting excesses in arthouse symmetry.

The critic describes the film as fanatically detailed and starkly visionary in dramatizing a shaman's encounters with European explorers. It singles out the poised black-and-white images and the soundtrack evoking the harsh environment alongside sharp dialogue on clashing worldviews.

The critic describes the film as unique and intoxicating, an art movie that grips like a thriller and plays like Apocalypse Now in a dugout canoe. It singles out the dreamlike, episodic road movie structure and the cosmic, mind-expanding finale for praise.

The critic lauds the visually majestic film for paying tribute to lost Amazon cultures through its bifurcated narrative of colonial destruction. It singles out the transfixing power of the black-and-white imagery and the film's moral conviction while noting some narrative longueurs.

The critic finds the sublime and the insane engaging traveling companions in this widescreen black-and-white odyssey that slowly transitions from realism to the fantastical. It singles out the interweaving narratives and hypnotic grandeur for praise while noting slow pacing early on.

The film is a head trip that explains itself too much, shrewd at tweaking colonial fantasy clichés but ultimately an academic exercise full of stand-ins and signifiers.

The critic praises the visually mesmerizing exploration of man, nature and the destructive powers of colonialism along with knockout black-and-white cinematography. It notes the film runs a tad too long in its second half but remains absorbing.

The critic finds it an entrancing odyssey with an invigorating reverse-angle perspective on colonialism's poisonous effects, though it wobbles like a shaggy-dog story whose detours prove the real story; praises the astounding images.

The critic finds the film breathtakingly gorgeous in monochrome but criticizes it for repeatedly hammering home the message that colonialism is bad. It notes the historical basis and strong visuals while finding the messaging overly familiar.

The critic calls the film a work of art and one of the most singular cinematic experiences, praising its unearthly beauty, ancient wisdom, and intimate portrayal of colonialism's impact through individual stories.

The critic praises the film's surreal and transformative journey through the Amazon, highlighting its poetic imagery and exploration of memory, identity, and humanity's destructive impact. They single out the black-and-white cinematography and the focus on the indigenous protagonist Karamakate as elements that make it a powerful, belief-shaking experience.

The critic praises the film's skilful entwining of two eras from the shaman's perspective, giving history back to indigenous people and serving as a testament to lost cultures and traditions.

The critic finds the film a tremendously absorbing and mesmeric affair, spellbinding in its monochrome presentation and intelligent interweaving of parallel expeditions, though loose on narrative structure.