--- title: "Vagabond: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/vagabond/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/vagabond" critics_score: 82 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." --- # Vagabond (1985): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 10 reviews: 10 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive about Vagabond, with praise clustering around Sandrine Bonnaire’s performance and Varda’s account of a woman who remains difficult to know. Critics admire Bonnaire’s unsentimental portrayal of Mona and the fragmented testimonies through which her life is reconstructed. Most see the documentary-like approach as crucial: it gives Mona a concrete physical presence without explaining away her choices, romanticising her freedom or reducing her to a symbol. The differences concern the strength of that praise rather than any clear disagreement about the film’s merits. The Guardian particularly admires the structure and central performance, while The New York Times stresses how gruelling Mona’s painfully real world can be. The Los Angeles Times finds exhilaration alongside the melancholy. There is no outright dissent among these ten reviews; the more measured responses still value the film’s capacity to leave viewers thinking about Mona’s contradictions. ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 5/5/5. 28 June 2018. The critic hails the film as Varda’s masterpiece and a welcome re-release chronicling a wanderer’s final days in search of freedom. They single out Sandrine Bonnaire’s transcendent performance as central to its exceptional beauty and nuanced storytelling. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/vagabond-1985) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2018. The critic praises the film as one of Varda's greatest, a cool, enigmatic and gripping chronicle of a young woman's troubled life and death told through fragmented testimonies. It singles out the structural artistry and the unforgettable central performance by Sandrine Bonnaire as Mona for particular admiration. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/27/vagabond-review-agnes-vardas-sandrine-bonnaire) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 May 1986. The critic describes the film as scrupulous and hardheaded about an eighteen-year-old drifter, praising Bonnaire's immaculate performance and Varda's purity and boldness of approach. It affirms the integrity in every frame and explains the awards it won. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1986/05/19/drifters-dopes-and-dopers) ## Film Comment — Imogen Sara Smith Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2018. Varda's film is impossible to forget, capturing the traces left by its enigmatic, unsympathetic drifter protagonist Mona through the memories of those she encounters. It creates a portrait that is neither romantic nor judgmental, emphasizing her physical reality and impenetrable motives amid a rigorously composed, documentary-like structure. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/hard-traveling-araby-gabriel-mountain-vagabond/) ## The AV Club — Nick Schager Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 August 2015. Varda blends fictional and non-fictional modes to reconstruct the life of drifter Mona through interviews with those who encountered her before her death. The film stands out for its refusal to turn her into an allegory or easy object of sympathy while capturing a universal sense of dislocation. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/agnes-varda-trails-an-aimless-nomad-in-this-neorealist-1798283761) ## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 July 1986. The critic finds that Varda keeps the film from being a monumental downer, calling it haunting, melancholy and ultimately exhilarating. It singles out the opaque central character and the way the film leaves viewers turning over her contradictions. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-06-ca-22859-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 1986. The critic praises the film's specific, unadorned story of a young woman who cannot truly be known despite encounters with many people. It highlights the power of its realistic approach in prompting later reflection on how little we know those whose lives briefly intersect ours. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/vagabond-1986) ## Slant Magazine — Andrew Chan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 January 2008. Varda uses a multi-perspective structure to explore the enigmatic freedom and isolation of drifter Mona, confounding easy judgments about her choices and character. The film excels in its visual and thematic rigor, treating Mona as an individual rather than a symbol while probing questions of compassion and social norms. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-criterion-collection-74-vagabond/) ## The New York Times — Caryn James Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 May 1986. The critic notes that Varda forces viewers to respond to externals and makes a triumph of rendering the difficult-to-like or understand Mona. It finds the film grueling yet effective in creating a painfully real world. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/16/movies/screen-agnes-varda-s-vagabond.html) ## Collider — Thomas Butt Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 March 2025. The critic praises Vagabond as a masterful exploration of a young woman's pursuit of freedom and independence, comparing it favorably to Into the Wild and highlighting Varda's insightful portrayal of human psychology and the female experience. [Read the review](https://collider.com/agnes-varda-vagabond/) --- © 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/vagabond.md