--- title: "Paprika: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/paprika/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/paprika" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 10 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." --- # Paprika (2006): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 10 reviews: 9 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics are won over, and the reviews are close to unanimous in their admiration. The praise clusters on the animation itself: the dream sequences, the primary colours, and the parade of household appliances that marches out of one sleeper’s head and into everybody else’s, which several reviews name as the film’s signature image. Satoshi Kon is credited with making a dream film that ties dreaming to cinema without becoming solemn, and The Guardian finds it more comprehensible and less po-faced than most of its kind. The reservations gather around the plot. The AV Club finds the story muddy and secondary to the imagery, and Time Out, the one mixed voice, thinks the film crams in too many ideas about Jung, media and philosophy to land any of them. Slant admires the set pieces but finds the visions less immediately striking than other anime. The spread is moderate, and the doubts are about coherence, not craft. ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2007. The critic calls the film brilliant and a masterly example of Japanese anime intended for adults, describing it as a Freudian-Jungian-Felliniesque sci-fi thriller of whirligig complexity. He singles out its connection between dreams and movies, worked to a fare-thee-well with outrageous leaps. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/05/28/not-kids-stuff) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic's Pick. 25 May 2007. The critic praises the film as a mind-twisting, eye-tickling wonder of future-shock ideas and animated imagery that explores the intersection of human and machine. She singles out the cavalcade of charming and beautiful hallucinations, including a dementedly cheery parade of inanimate objects. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/movies/25papr.html) ## The AV Club — Tasha Robinson Rating B+. 7 June 2007. The critic commends the film's joyful surrealism, astounding fluid visuals in primary colors, and bouncy score as Kon swings back to the fantastical after a more grounded effort. They criticize the muddy, hard-to-follow narrative that prioritizes dream imagery over plot coherence. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/paprika-1798202717) ## Los Angeles Times — Scarlet Cheng Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 May 2007. The critic notes that dread and delight course through the film as sleeping and waking, fantasy and nightmare collide in Satoshi Kon’s newest work. She singles out the riotous parade sequence that begins to intrude into every character’s dream and then into reality. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-27-ca-paprika27-story.html) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2007. The critic calls Paprika an outstanding Japanese animation that is sophisticated and full of ideas, distinct from both Hollywood and Studio Ghibli styles. It is more comprehensible and less po-faced than most of its kind, with a vividly coloured trip through sleeping minds based on a psychotherapy machine that can implant dreams. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/28/dvdreviews.animation) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2006. Festival review. Kon proves again why he is one of the most interesting anime directors; the film adds a post-modern dissolving multi-layered story that plays mind games, making it one of the more refreshingly original animation titles of the year despite looking conventional. The cinematic feel from fast edits and handheld sequences is noted. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/paprika/4028524.article) ## Slant Magazine — Keith Uhlich Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 2006. The critic praises Kon's use of dream logic and hyper-realistic animation to explore blurred lines between reality, dreams, and society, highlighting vivid nightmare sequences and psychological depth. They note that while the film is visually striking with memorable set pieces like the parade of appliances, its visions lack the immediate impact of some other anime works and can feel underwhelming in the moment. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/paprika/) ## Variety — Leslie Felperin Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2006. Festival review. The critic finds the brainy scientist heroine and surreal, super-kitsch imagery give the pic a better chance than most Nipponese toons of breaking out. She singles out helmer Satoshi Kon adding humorous spice to the plot about a gizmo that can record dreams falling into the wrong hands. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/paprika-1200513690/) ## Time Out — David Fear Rating 3/5. 27 March 2014. The film is intellectually dense with concepts from Jung, media studies and philosophy but ultimately too much and not enough, cramming in too many elements. The sumptuous visual palette and elaborate psychedelic tableaux are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/paprika) ## Eye for Film — Keith Dudhnath Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2008. The critic calls Paprika a magnificent film from beginning to end and a perfect piece of cinema. They single out its rich, beautiful dream sequences and visual treats that could only work in animation, along with the strong plot, engaging characters, and overall thrill. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/paprika-film-review-by-keith-dudhnath) --- © 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/paprika.md