"The Deer King"’s delicate world-building plus its curious mix of the medical and the spiritual creates a strikingly different fantasy film.

| Nov 10, 2022

The clear lines of the elegant 2D animation are not matched by the mythic muddle of the storytelling, an exposition-heavy slog of warring factions, convoluted webs of enchantment and a deadly, wolf-borne pandemic for good measure.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 31, 2022

One can only hope that, in future, the directors will have a better script that may befit their talents as animators.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2022

A gorgeously realized anime epic set in the lush forests of a centuries-old realm.

| Jul 15, 2022

The Deer King looks great (and has a lovely score) but it’s repetitive, predictable, and downright dull.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 15, 2022

A powerful and moving anime adaptation... there's something heartening about its message that thoughtful kindness may just save us all. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jul 14, 2022

Most of what doesn’t work in “The Deer King” stands out during its belabored and anti-climactic finale, when too many dangling sub-plots either don’t come together or don’t amount to much.

| Jul 14, 2022

The film is tenderly wrought and brilliantly animated, with transitions that emphasize the communion between the land and the human body.

| Jul 14, 2022

The Deer King leaves one with the impression that it hasn’t given itself enough room to truly soar.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 11, 2022

Impressive world-building, despite some weak writing and pacing issues.

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