The Neon Bull exists well beyond the realm of didacticism, surrendering instead to the joys and the discomforts of the senses.

| Aug 25, 2018

Most of the movie is poking bulls, blaring rodeo announcers, time spent in the back of the truck as the bulls are moved from point A to point B. Not exactly riveting stuff ...

| Original Score: C | Jul 15, 2016

With all the grace and symmetry of a peacock fanning its tail, director Gabriel Mascaro reveals his hand in quixotic blasts of expressionistic color, graphic sensuality, and a few things we've never before seen on film...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 14, 2016

The cowboy character would have benefited from a stronger story arc, but Cazarré is quietly charismatic in the role, a Brando-esque figure searching for meaning beyond maschismo.

| Jul 7, 2016

Mascaro works much like his protagonist, gathering together details, images, and scenes to create unexpected visions. The narrative seems desultory and repetitive until it coalesces into some arresting, if not perverse, sequences.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 7, 2016

Visually ravishing and sexually provocative, Neon Bull offers an unforgettable portrait of a changing Brazil, at once earthy and arty.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 13, 2016

The film is filthy with nuanced moments of fierce, sweaty intimacy, all shot with a precise eye for detail. At the very least, it will make you rethink your next rodeo.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 13, 2016

There's talent on view here, but in service of a questionable proposition, with the whole thing tiptoeing toward the exploitative.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 5, 2016

The wordless way that they click suggests a sexual telepathy, there's real tenderness in their sounds and movements, and the characters seem to be having a really good time-which is still something of a rarity when it comes to sex in art cinema.

| Apr 29, 2016

The languid pace and barnyard earthiness won't be to everybody's taste, but it's hard to deny Mascaro's vision.

| Apr 14, 2016

The characters are given no real depth-they're types more than people-and the narrative has practically zero dramatic tension or development.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 8, 2016

"Neon Bull" is a profound reflection on the intersection of the human and bestial.

| Apr 7, 2016

There's considerable talent on view here, even if it's mostly expended on local color, incidental moments, and random weirdness. Maybe Mascaro should try grabbing the horns next time, rather than the tail.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 7, 2016

With scalpel-like precision, Gabriel Mascaro's second narrative feature frankly yet effortlessly explores sexuality, environmental issues, and suffering both human and animal.

| Mar 17, 2016

Everything in the film is understood to be a subsumed sex act, with actual sex serving as a contextualizing catharsis.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 15, 2016

Mascaro's film is an auspicious, original, and absorbing work that thrills with its look into this little-seen world and the dreamers that inhabit it.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 18, 2015

Its thematic and formal execution invites comparisons to the equally caustic work of Lav Diaz.

| Dec 9, 2015