--- title: "Minotaur: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/minotaur/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/minotaur" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 14 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." --- # Minotaur (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 14 reviews: 12 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics admire Minotaur: eleven of thirteen reviews are positive. The praise gathers around Zvyagintsev’s direction, described as restrained, exacting and in full command of silence and framing. The compositions draw repeated notice, cold and crime-scene-like, the family home becoming a source of dread. Nearly every review reads the film as a domestic thriller reworked into an attack on Putin-era Russia, and most find it darkly funny as well as bleak. A prolonged corpse-disposal sequence is singled out more than once. The reservations are about pace and access. Deadline and The Wrap warn that the ambiguity, bleakness and disciplined pacing will frustrate some viewers, and Little White Lies finds stretches lethargic. The one negative verdict comes from Eye for Film, which thinks the Minotaur metaphor stronger than the drama around it and the film too conventional for its ambitions. The spread is narrow at the top; the dissent is thin. ## IndieWire — Ryan Lattanzio Rating A-. 19 May 2026. Festival review. Lattanzio finds the film engrossing and icily exacting, despite its familiar story. He especially praises Iris Lebedeva’s performance and the bleak, politically charged final images. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/minotaur-movie-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-1235194820/) ## Sight and Sound — BFI Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the film brilliant and blackhearted, turning domestic drama into a potent allegory of Russian authoritarianism. They praise its elegant compositions and lingering final shot, which makes distant clouds evoke explosions. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/minotaur-andrey-zvyagintsevs-beautifully-sinister-chabrol-adaptation-dissects-russian-authoritarianism) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Leslie Felperin Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. Felperin finds the film gripping, rigorously made and Zvyagintsev’s most incisive critique of Russia’s political and moral malaise. She praises its intricate irony and economical storytelling, especially a gruesome, comic, and pivotal sequence. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/minotaur-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-1236600974/) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. Lodge finds Zvyagintsev in impeccable form, delivering a despairing and darkly funny critique of corruption and betrayal. He especially praises the film’s meticulous framing and its sharp reworking of a domestic thriller into a portrait of Putin-era patriarchy. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/minotaur-review-1236753246/) ## Slant Magazine — Mark Hanson Rating 3.5/4. 11 September 2026. Festival review. Hanson finds the film a blistering, darkly comic indictment of Russia’s wartime and oligarchic culture. He particularly praises the mesmerizing desolation of its cinematography and compositions. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/minotaur-review-andrey-zvyagintsev/) ## Los Angeles Times — Joshua Rothkopf Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2026. Festival review. Rothkopf says Zvyagintsev’s return is worth the wait and praises the film’s distilled expression of the director’s strengths. He especially singles out its brutal daylight climax and its portrait of Putin’s dissociative society. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-05-22/10-cannes-movies-worth-looking-out-for-2026) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. Bradshaw calls the film tremendous drama and praises Zvyagintsev’s superb direction. He singles out the outstanding performances and cold, crime-scene-like compositions. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/19/minotaur-review-cannes-film-festival-andrei-zvyagintsev-ukraine-russia) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 19 May 2026. The review calls the film an icily gripping thriller and a sharp-edged attack on Putin’s Russia. It singles out the Chabrol remake as the source of its gripping edge. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/minotaur-review-2026) ## Screen Daily — Catherine Bray Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. The headline presents the film as an immaculate domestic thriller, suggesting a positive verdict. The standfirst singles out its intertwining of personal and national crisis. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/minotaur-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-remakes-claude-chabrols-the-unfaithful-wife-as-immaculate-domestic-thriller/5216969.article) ## Little White Lies — Mark Asch Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. The critic finds the film intriguing but at times lethargic, with a perverse optimism in its depiction of Russian oligarchs’ weakening power. He singles out the prolonged corpse-disposal sequence for its mounting suspense and anxiety. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/cannes-film-festival/minotaur-first-look-review) ## The Playlist — Chase Hutchinson Rating A-. 23 May 2026. Festival review. The critic calls the film a pointed, gripping portrait of political cruelty and private collapse. They praise its controlled, understated approach to showing how ordinary people become complicit in violence. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/minotaur-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-cannes-20260523/) ## Deadline — Stephanie Bunbury Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. Bunbury calls the film a great piece of work, though its ambiguity and disciplined pacing may frustrate some viewers. She especially praises Zvyagintsev’s directorial restraint, including his controlled use of silence and camera perspective. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2026/05/minotaur-review-andrey-zvyagintsev-1236915553/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the film a riveting, quietly damning political thriller, though its bleakness and complicated perspective make it challenging to access. They praise the patient cinematography and production design for turning the family home into a source of mounting dread. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/minotaur-review-cannes/) ## Eye for Film — Edin Custo Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 4 June 2026. Festival review. Custo finds the film politically intriguing but ultimately too conventional to match its ambitions. He singles out its compelling Minotaur metaphor, which he says is stronger than the drama built around it. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/minotaur-2026-film-review-by-edin-custo) --- © 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/minotaur.md