--- title: "The Seventh Seal: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-seventh-seal/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-seventh-seal" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 7 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 Seventh Seal (1957): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 7 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are consistently positive, with praise clustering around Bergman’s stark medieval imagery and his direct treatment of faith, doubt and mortality. Critics repeatedly single out the chess game with Death, but also find warmth in the humour and small acts of human connection amid the plague. The acting, period detail and theatrical clarity receive substantial praise. Across the reviews, the film’s concern for ordinary human life matters as much as its religious questions. Reservations are limited, and differences concern accessibility and familiarity rather than achievement. The New Yorker notes occasional obscurity, while Little White Lies finds the film more approachable than its arthouse reputation suggests. Time Out acknowledges that parody has taken a toll on the famous images, yet still finds them moving. There is no substantial negative dissent here: the consensus allows for intellectual demands without treating them as a reason to keep the film at a distance. ## Time Out — Wally Hammond Rating 5/5. 16 July 2007. Bergman’s medieval allegory gives fear a face in its iconic chess game with Death and remains relevant through its curiosity about human survival and artistic expression under threat. Parody has taken some toll on its most famous images, yet it stays highly impressive and moving. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-seventh-seal-1) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 March 1958. The critic describes the film as a distinct and wonderful work unlike any other, presenting it as a screen version of a medieval morality play with conventional figures elevated by remarkable casting, acting, and Bergman's forceful, simple, and integral writing and direction. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1958/mar/08/world.mainsection) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 2007. The critic highlights the film's emergence as Bergman's mature work exploring faith, doubt, and humanity's debasement of religion amid the Black Death. Iconic sequences like the chess game with Death and the Dance of Death stand out as memorable highlights. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/seventh-seal-review/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The review calls the film a masterpiece and medieval allegory about lost faith in a desperate world ravaged by plague. It singles out Bergman's superb wintry images, reminiscent of silent cinema, for their indelible impact. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/depiction-of-a-desperate-world-7397352.html) ## Little White Lies — Ned Carter Miles Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 August 2017. The film is a deceptively accessible arthouse staple whose central chess game between knight and Death unfolds with theatrical clarity. It refuses to speculate on the afterlife and instead focuses on earthly human concerns and physicality. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/the-seventh-seal-ingmar-bergman-masterpiece) ## The AV Club — Zack Handlen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 November 2009. The critic finds the film a humane exploration of death's inevitability, praising its striking imagery, bawdy humor, and moments of personal connection that transcend time. They highlight the knight's chess game with Death and the practical lesson that one can help others even while facing one's own end. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-seventh-seal-1798218170) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert 16 April 2000. The critic praises the film's uncompromising directness in confronting the absence of God through stark medieval imagery, including the iconic chess game with Death. He singles out its richness of period detail and the knight's affirmation of life through small acts of connection amid plague and despair. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-seventh-seal-1957) ## The New Yorker — John McCarten 25 October 1958. The critic describes an imaginative and mystical account of 14th-century Sweden gripped by plague, with a knight bargaining with Death via chess. It notes the film's remarkable graphic style and greater intellectual content than most movies, despite occasional obscurity. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1958/10/25/1958-10-25-192-tny-cards-000060069) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther 14 October 1958. The review calls the film a piercing and powerful contemplation of man's passage on earth, intellectually demanding yet emotionally stimulating. It highlights the evocative medieval setting during the plague and strong performances, especially by Max von Sydow and Bengt Ekerot. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/14/archives/seventh-seal-swedish-allegory-has-premiere-at-paris.html) ## Variety — Variety Staff 31 December 1956. The review presents it as a morality play about a crusader playing chess with Death to find life's meaning while plague ravages his home. It praises the superior technical narrative, impressive lensing and thesping, plus the evocative re-creation of medieval times full of vitality. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1956/film/reviews/det-sjunde-inseglet-1200418349/) ## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2001. The critic highlights the film's memorable chess-with-Death premise and powerful imagery of landscape and foreboding, noting its wordy, Shakespearean dialogue and comic secondary characters alongside allegorical depth. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-seventh-seal-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) --- © 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-seventh-seal.md