What starts off as erotic hallucinatory psychedelia ends with a powerful message about female solidarity...beneath all the horror, the torture, and the violence, you’ll find a cry for revolt against various forms of inhumanity.

| Feb 20, 2024

Carefully constructed and a little sloppy, alluring and disturbing, this gem deserves a trigger warning, but also a chance.

| Mar 1, 2018

The artwork is achingly delicate, but there's nothing subtle about Belladonna of Sadness.

| Mar 1, 2018

Still, there's an undeniable genius at work here, strong enough to survive the psychedelic sleaze that's been baked into every frame.

| Original Score: B+ | Mar 1, 2018

It's a classic tale of temptation and tragedy, of innocence lost and evil triumphant.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 23, 2016

The paintings simply aren't strong enough to hold the audience's attention and carry the story.

| May 13, 2016

For those up for an adventure into the LSD-influenced world of counterculture animation, Belladonna of Sadness is a curious artifact that, after 43 years, remains a glorious mind****.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 12, 2016

Near the beginning, it's genuinely moving, but somewhere around the middle, the film's sheer excess and occasional silliness gets exhausting.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 6, 2016

Perhaps too ambitious for its own good (or at least its budget), the film is impossible to dismiss, even if it exhausts its reserve of ideas.

| Original Score: B+ | May 5, 2016

"Belladonna of Sadness" is undoubtedly a landmark of animated film, and arguably a masterpiece. But it's a very disquieting one.

| May 5, 2016

You can fully enjoy Belladonna of Sadness if you either overlook or participate in the objectification of a gorgeous victim.

| May 4, 2016

Eiichi Yamamoto's cult anime strikes a perfect balance between midnight-movie enchantment and arthouse sophistication.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 1, 2016