--- title: "The Young and the Damned: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-young-and-the-damned/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-young-and-the-damned" critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 9 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 Young and the Damned (1950): what the critics said Critics' score 70 from 9 reviews: 7 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics praise The Young and the Damned for its unsentimental treatment of poverty and juvenile crime in Mexico City, and for refusing comforting explanations or easy solutions. The praise centres on Buñuel’s direction: the combination of harsh social realism, surreal imagery and a dream sequence that several reviews single out. Supporters find the brutality purposeful, exposing how neglect damages children. Visual style draws more attention than acting, though Den of Geek singles out Roberto Cobo’s performance as Jaibo. The spread is wide despite seven of the nine reviews being positive. Reservations range from weaker subplots to objections to the film’s whole approach. The two negative reviews, both from 1952, reject what admirers find powerful: The New Yorker finds the brutality excessive and emotionally unproductive, while The New York Times sees violence, melodrama and coincidence without a clear focus. The central disagreement is over whether the unrelenting suffering deepens the film’s social criticism or blunts its effect. ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 June 2006. The critic praises Buñuel's potent exposé of depravity in the slums, which takes neo-realism into surrealist territory and refuses easy solutions or judgment. The film is described as a shattering indictment of social indifference that retains its original power. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/los-olvidados-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Chalon Smith Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 October 1991. Buñuel’s early masterpiece is operatic in its tragedy yet steadfast in its realism, a retort to hopeful movies that presented juvenile delinquency as easily overcome by love and sentiment. Poverty is shown as a dehumanizing cycle, with the film attacking the sadness that ruins children before they have a chance. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-18-ca-520-story.html) ## Time Out — Nick Funnell Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 February 2007. The critic praises the film's defiant lack of sentimentality in depicting the brutal lives of Mexico City street kids and its blend of neorealism with Buñuel's surrealist elements, especially a memorable dream sequence. It is called a masterpiece that powerfully exposes social and individual ills without offering easy resolutions. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/los-olvidados-1) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 February 2007. Buñuel's 1950 film, restored for a NFT season, is a rough-and-ready portrait of street kids in Mexico City that stands out for its metaphysical and surreal dimensions beyond mere social realism. The critic highlights the famous dream sequence and poetic flourishes as what make it riveting. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/feb/16/worldcinema.drama) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 May 2002. The critic praises Buñuel's objective, unsentimental portrayal of Mexico City street children and the film's intense focus on isolation and societal neglect. He singles out the director's powerful visual style, including a memorable mock bullfight sequence and a disturbing dream scene, for heightening the emotional impact. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/los-olvidados/) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1949. The film is an objective, unrelenting closeup of life among delinquents in a Mexican slum, with no hope offered except through sweeping social changes. Buñuel has filled the picture with symbols like a terrifying blind man and bloody battles, aided by strong contrasty cinematography. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1949/film/reviews/los-olvidados-1200416638/) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 1952. The film grapples with juvenile delinquency but the point that poverty and lack of love can reduce people to criminal despair is debatable, with too much brutality leaving little to the imagination. The atmosphere is so realistic that it startles without provoking the emotional response the effort deserves. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1952/03/29/1952-03-29-119-tny-cards-000038438) ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 1952. A brutal and unrelenting picture of poverty and juvenile crime in the slums of Mexico City is presented, assembled into a vicious and shocking melange of violence, melodrama, coincidence and irony. The director had no clear focus or point of reference for the squalid, depressing tale. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1952/03/25/archives/article-6-no-title-young-and-the-damned-study-of-mexico-city-slums.html) ## Den of Geek — Joseph Ewens Rating 4/5. 11 October 2010. The critic praises the film's enduring power as a punchy drama with real depth, highlighting the strong performances, especially Roberto Cobo as Jaibo, and the surreal dream sequence, while noting some weaker subplots. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/los-olvidados-dvd-review/) --- © 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-young-and-the-damned.md