Philosophical, enigmatic and moving, Happy as Lazzaro may start as this...drama about one family’s dominion over poor working people..., but, by the end, it proves to be so much more than just a tale about the swindling and corruption of the innocent.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 12, 2024

Even though the ending, overwhelmed with too many allegories and religious symbolism, doesn't measure up to the rest of the film, Happy as Lazzaro ratifies this filmmaker as one of the most valuable in contemporary cinema. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 1, 2023

This work makes us aware of the evils of our present and provides us with the tools to defeat them. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 1, 2023

One always has the sense of being in the hands of a filmmaker who understands how to create a tangible world that is so interesting to explore, and the film accomplishes that with a confident hand that draws you further into its overall messages.

| Original Score: 8/10 | May 29, 2022

I'm OK with not getting every single part of what happens.

| Feb 9, 2021

This touching film allows you to view the world through innocent eyes and see a world that gets overlooked.

| Feb 2, 2021

It's one for the patient viewer, this, but the rewards are rich.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2020

Rohrwacher's film inventively examines how people react to innocence: how they exploit it, how they resent it, how they distrust it, and how that altruism somehow finds a way.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 25, 2020

The child actors are great, and so is the always excellent Alba Rohrbacher. And the Hélène Louvart-lensed 16mm cinematography is gorgeous. But the real star is Tardiolo.

| Jul 17, 2020

This slow, but well-paced drama, unexpectedly unfolds as a slice of traditional folklore, sitting somewhere between classic Italian neorealism and fantastical storytelling.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 6, 2020

Newcomer Tardiolo is splendid in the lead and Alice Rohrwacher's patient approach gives the viewer plenty of time to explore the landscapes through which we travel, inviting awkward questions about what it means to be free or to be saved.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2019

Revisit Plato's cave in a modern tale and how the culture define our social behavior, as Margaret Mead Said. A contemporary anthropological new cinema. A must. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 18, 2019

Aided by excellent, incantational sound-mixing and wonderful unforced performances, Rorhwacher creates a recognisable and authentic vision of Italy miles apart, yet equally as fantastical, as that in Call Me By Your Name.

| Oct 29, 2019

A great-looking film that dares to give a familiar sci-fi subgenre an ultrarealistic spin. It's a blessed feeling to be in the hands of such remarkable storytellers.

| Oct 17, 2019

This engaging, unforgettable story lies somewhere between fairy tale and dystopia.

| Sep 11, 2019

Alice Rohrwacher follows her beguiling The Wonders (2014) with the no less lyrical and even more fabulist Happy as Lazzaro.

| Aug 27, 2019

A captivating reflection of greed, desperation, and the potential for innocence to survive both.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 6, 2019

Happy as Lazarro is a memorable and compelling experience that manages to blend fantasy and reality in a way that is both beautiful, satirical and enlightening all at once. Highly recommended.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 8, 2019

At least half of Happy as Lazzaro is an interesting allegory and extremely well photographed.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 6, 2019

Rohrwacher is going for timeless and she might have made a new classic.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 24, 2019