At times this does feel like a bit of an unwitting test of the audience's attention span.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 19, 2021

The title means 'heaven' in Spanish, and here McAlpine uses the visuals in much the same way a poet uses words to express aesthetic qualities of her subject.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 4, 2021

One of the most gorgeous documentaries ever made...

| Oct 16, 2020

Even at just 78 minutes, it feels somewhat redundant and overlong. Still there are plenty of beautiful passages.

| Apr 7, 2020

Although her film clocks in at a brisk 78 minutes, McAlpine attempts an admirable thoroughness: We see time-lapse images of the sky; we experience homemade special effects shots that depict astronomical phenomena...

| Mar 23, 2020

A breathtaking documentary tribute to a simple beauty we take for granted - the night sky.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2019

Slow and meditative, Cielo offers vertiginous time-lapse photography of the rotating Milky Way, as well as special-effects sequences that recreate astronomical events.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 31, 2018

It should come as no surprise that McAlpine has a background in poetry. The sky is a naturally lyrical subject and the film is full of contemplative shots, displaying a rich visual language.

| Aug 23, 2018

Creates celestial images to rival those in The Tree of Life.

| Aug 16, 2018

Somewhere between a Discovery Channel special and a Koyaanisqatsi-esque head trip, you'll find Alison McAlpine's exquisite portrait film Cielo.

| Aug 15, 2018

Individual images are truly a sight to behold, but the film never comes together to form anything cohesive in the end, beyond an eye-popping look at the Chilean night sky.

| Original Score: C | Aug 15, 2018

A dreamy documentary about the sky, notable for its poetic images.

| Aug 14, 2018

Watching it can't help but call attention to the artifice of moviemaking. The sides of the frame are all too visible. Moody woodwinds fill the emptiness of the space.

| Aug 14, 2018

Alison McAlpine's documentary lacks urgency beyond its persistent pondering of the sky's eternal mysteries.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 13, 2018

In addition to talk, the film features gorgeous, silent time-lapse images of the slowly wheeling night sky, a blanket of dust and stars torn by satellites and meteors. It will leave you starstruck.

| Aug 10, 2018

McAlpine's work is subtle and sublime; its queries more like answers.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 10, 2018

Buoyed by conversations with a variety of people closely associated with this particularly luminous region, "Cielo" should entrance all those who enter its unique atmosphere.

| Aug 9, 2018

A sky-watching doc that could be the most calming 78 minutes of your summer (this side of actually getting out of town and seeing the real thing).

| Original Score: A | Aug 9, 2018

Cielo is a cosmic meditation on our place in the universe.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 8, 2018

A poet, McAlpine narrates a leisurely tour of the night sky... then listens to the diverse assortment of people who watch and relate to the sky in different quirky ways.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 9, 2017