Nobody has a bad word for it. Twelve reviews, all positive, and the praise gathers on the same spot: the images. Critics return to the high-contrast photography, the compositions that lay one woman’s face over the other’s, and Bergman’s willingness to tear at the surface of his own film. Most call it one of his best. Bibi Andersson’s performance as the nurse draws particular notice, and more than one reviewer finds the film warmer and more intimate than its formal games suggest.
The reservations are about difficulty, not quality. Variety finds it hard going even while admiring the technique, and the Los Angeles Times suggests the tricks that once shocked have lost some of their force. Sight and Sound spends part of its notice defending the film against the charge of self-indulgence, which tells you the charge is still made. The spread is narrow, and the lowest scores come from retrospective pieces that describe the film’s influence more than they judge it.