While filled with technical splendor, The Blazing World has great ambition but fails to come up with original ways to explore its infinite universe.

| Original Score: B- | Jun 13, 2024

I had little choice but to take the film at absolute face and textual value. These influences aren’t transfigured beyond the sum of their parts, they’re just familiar window dressing...

| Nov 28, 2022

The visuals may be hypnotic, but they're in service of a valiant effort of a movie rather than a totally mind-bending adventure.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 11, 2022

Once The Blazing World begins exploring the metaphysical realm and Margaret attempts her rescue mission, the film blossoms into a sumptuous feast of intricate production design and vibrant colors.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 10, 2022

"The Blazing World" is an exquisitely rich presentation of imaginative storytelling. It stands as an ambitious and impressive debut from Young.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 7, 2022

The Blazing World takes the concept of grief as an ongoing nightmare and jumbles it up in an incoherent horror movie. The cinematography is impressive, but the movie ultimately over-indulges in a lot of nonsense.

| Oct 28, 2021

Resourceful and accomplished in its way, the film nonetheless feels like an affectedly angsty, juvenile princess fantasy that thinks it's Persona. Young demonstrated chutzpah...but next time I hope her talents focus on something less self-indulgent.

| Oct 22, 2021

It's a slight problem that everything is so relentlessly full-on. But the outrageous flourishes effectively generate some darkly powerful emotions.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 21, 2021

The Blazing World may be visually stunning, but otherwise it quickly burns out.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 18, 2021

The Blazing World falls short narratively and visually.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Oct 18, 2021

Trying to balance campy with clever, it flashes abundant visual flair yet stumbles in realizing its narrative ambitions.

| Oct 15, 2021

Overstuffed and overextended, The Blazing World is buoyed by the soundtrack (especially the songs by Isom Innis and Sean Cimino in their project Peel), and the too brief appearance by the wonderful Soko.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 15, 2021

It's an admirably imaginative piece, although the narrative's ... predictable trickery ultimately get the better of its visual elements.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 15, 2021

There's plenty of imagination on display in The Blazing World, but it's buried amidst the narrative and stylistic self-indulgence that assumes we'll be interested in going on this very strange and ultimately enervating journey.

| Oct 14, 2021

Carlson Young has settled for style over substance, which is semi-allowable when the work is this entrancing

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 14, 2021

Young's film is a theme park of self-indulgence that forgoes characters and narratives in favour of gratuitous fantasy.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 28, 2021

(Carlson) Young is a talented storyteller, with a limitless vision that should hopefully fall more into focus as her career behind the camera evolves.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 26, 2021

gorgeous phantasmagoria

| Jul 2, 2021

A disarmingly charmless and amateurish series of indie genre check-boxes dressed up as something desperate to be described as "like Alice in Wonderland on acid."

| Jun 6, 2021

The Blazing World displays an almost maddening level of talent and creativity. Here's hoping it's the start of something great.

| Apr 16, 2021