Most critics respond warmly to Flesh and Sand, praising the VR installation’s technical accomplishment and its physical evocation of a migrant border crossing. The praise centres on emotional immersion: sand underfoot, disorientation and the threat of armed guards make the encounter feel immediate. For its admirers, Iñárritu’s humane staging gives the technology a purpose beyond novelty, bringing viewers closer to people whose experiences are often reduced to political rhetoric.
The disagreement is sharp rather than evenly spread. The Guardian admires the immersion but questions how much it explains about refugees’ circumstances. Film Comment sees technically accomplished imagery serving blunt moralising and an exclusive experience. The Los Angeles Times goes further, arguing that the VR apparatus obstructs empathy, while finding the closing video testimonials moving. The central divide is over whether simulated danger encourages understanding or merely produces a powerful physical response.