--- title: "The Man Who Fell to Earth: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 20 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." --- # The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 20 reviews: 19 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Nicolas Roeg’s disorientating science fiction, with praise clustering around David Bowie’s casting and performance. The reviews repeatedly find vulnerability beneath his unearthly presence, giving the film’s treatment of exile and alienation an emotional centre. Roeg’s surreal imagery, landscapes and elliptical editing also draw broad admiration, particularly for making Earth seem unfamiliar and allowing mood and feeling to carry scenes that resist straightforward explanation. The reservations concern narrative coherence, pacing and how much emotional connection survives the fragmentation. Several favourable reviews acknowledge wandering stretches, unfocused scenes or imperfections, but regard these as tolerable costs of the film’s ambition. The spread runs from enthusiasm to one mixed assessment: Collider finds the storytelling incoherent and the adaptation poor, while still praising Bowie and the visuals. Polygon offers a narrower dissent within an otherwise positive response, finding the film sad without being particularly moving. ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 4/5/5. 9 September 2016. The review hails the 4K restoration of Roeg's masterpiece, with Bowie astonishing as the alien visitor building a tech empire. It singles out the film's elliptical editing, pessimistic yet hopeful vision of a volatile world, and status as one of the director's most unique achievements. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-man-who-fell-to-earth/) ## The Times — Kate Muir Rating ★★★★★. 9 September 2016. David Bowie is back in cinemas as the alienated alien in the re-release of Nicolas Roeg’s surreal film. The critic singles out Bowie’s beyond-cool performance as stealing the show in a smorgasbord of strangeness. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-1976-plsp7jmkp) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 September 2016. Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 sci-fi about an alien visitor played by David Bowie is rereleased and looks more exotic and fascinating than ever. The critic singles out Bowie’s sui generis central performance for its unselfconscious gentleness and vulnerability. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-review-nicolas-roeg-david-bowie) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2007. The film is a demanding, disorientating yet beguilingly beautiful work that buries its plot but rewards repeated viewings with its suggestion that Earth is the strangest planet. Roeg's direction captures striking landscapes and the alien lead's unsettling presence amid earthly distractions. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/man-fell-earth-review/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 June 2011. The critic finds the film retains its cool, confounding strangeness as a sci-fi dedicated to how freakish Earth would seem to a visitor. It singles out the piercing tristesse of the final scene and Roeg's pessimistic vision of abandoning the hero to his fate. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/06/27/major-tom) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 1976. The review calls the film beautiful science fiction that is mainly about exile and being an alien on Earth. It singles out David Bowie's inspired, extraordinary performance as the space visitor for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/29/archives/man-who-fell-to-earth-is-beautiful-science-fiction.html) ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 4/5. 5 September 2016. The review calls it a haunting classic with a riveting Bowie performance as the alien sidetracked by human flaws. It singles out sublime moments like eye extractions and desert landscapes, while noting the second half wanders and some elements are dated. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-1) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Olsen Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 2011. The review highlights the film's cult status and strange imagery about aliens, technology, corporate conspiracy and government interference. It praises the director's approved version and Bowie's powerful performance as the ultimate stranger in a strange land. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-mn-nicolas-roeg-earth-20110703-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 3/4. 13 July 2011. The critic praises David Bowie's eerie, urbane performance as the alien visitor and the film's focus on character and ideas over plot. He notes it is slow at times with unfocused scenes but finds it a unique product of 1970s ambition. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-2011) ## Variety — Robert Hawkins Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 1976. The review establishes Roeg as one of the most talented new filmmakers and calls the film a demanding but stunning visual and aural achievement. It singles out Bowie's inspired casting and performance as the ethereal visitor and Candy Clark's winning contribution. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1976/film/reviews/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-1200423794/) ## Sight and Sound — Tom Milne Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises the film's emotional continuity over intellectual logic and Bowie's convincing portrayal of vulnerability as an alien. It explores themes of human connection, disorientation, and parallel worlds through elliptical storytelling and motifs like trains and incarceration. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/man-who-fell-earth-humanity-lost-found) ## Slant Magazine — Matt Noller Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 December 2008. Roeg delivers a singular, haunting sci-fi experience that strips narrative to essentials in favor of tone and emotion through elliptical editing and disruptive sound design. The film is aggressively imperfect yet treasured for its ambitious failures and glorious moments. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-man-who-fell-to-earth/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 May 2016. The critic calls the film a hallucinatory, heartfelt and wholly bizarre sci-fi masterpiece that endures due to its exploration of alienation and commerce, singling out Bowie's captivating, hypnotic performance as its central strength. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2016/05/david-bowie-the-thin-white-duke-and-the-man-who-fell-to-earth/) ## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 March 2011. The film is an experimental, one-of-a-kind piece of filmmaking about alienation, standing alongside Roeg’s finest work. It is worthy of enduring attention thanks to its committed, moving central performances, especially Bowie’s. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/looking-back-at-nicolas-roegs-the-man-who-fell-to-earth/) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 November 2018. The critic praises the film as a rich meditation on spiritual emptiness and materialism, highlighting Bowie's perfect casting and the director's virtuoso weirdness in atmosphere, imagery, and eroticism. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2018/11/26/movies/nicolas-roeg-director-dead-obituary-dont-look-now-man-who-fell-to-earth-walkabout) ## /Film — Debopriyaa Dutta Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 November 2025. Roeg's cult sci-fi remains hypnotic, profound and densely layered nearly 50 years later, with Bowie integral as the alien emitting a timeless aura. It is an ambitious, complex and beautiful experimental triumph open to many interpretations. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2015874/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-70s-sci-fi-movie-david-bowie-alien/) ## HeyUGuys — Nick Turk Rating 4/5. 4 April 2011. Roeg's film stands the test of time thanks to superb casting of Bowie as the alien and its decision not to spoon-feed explanations. Its bold surreal imagery and unconventional structure make it a standout sci-fi experience unlike anything else. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-blu-ray-review/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 July 2008. Roeg's sprawling, complex story of an alien who loses his way on Earth is full of dazzling images and striking scenes. The film uses visual beauty as a metaphor for the seductiveness of a world that proves culturally overwhelming for its protagonist. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Polygon — Jesse Hassenger Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 March 2026. The critic describes the film as challenging and authentically alien due to its fragmented storytelling and elliptical style, praising its striking visuals and Bowie's anchoring performance while noting it is sad but not particularly moving. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/david-bowie-man-who-fell-to-earth-at-50/) ## Collider — Luna Guthrie Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 13 July 2023. The critic finds the film an acquired taste that is incoherent and poorly adapted from the novel, but praises Bowie's uniquely perfect casting and performance along with the surreal visuals and memorable scenes. [Read the review](https://collider.com/david-bowie-the-man-who-fell-to-earth/) --- © 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/the-man-who-fell-to-earth.md