86
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIt is a film of our time. It is about how even moral victories are corrupted. It will make you weep and will make you angry. It will tear your guts out.
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA chilling, manipulative rollercoaster ride.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe story of the "accidental" death of a peacenik politician (Yves Montand) and the investigator (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who unravels a right-wing conspiracy remains as fresh as a head wound.
- 90SlateDana StevensSlateDana StevensZ makes political intelligence seem chicer than skinny neckties.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliZ is disquieting not only because the events actually happened, but because we sense they could happen again, closer to home.
- 83Portland OregonianMarc MohanPortland OregonianMarc MohanAvoiding the hyperbole and condescension that sometimes make it easy for ideological foes to dismiss the likes of Oliver Stone or Michael Moore, Costa-Gavras relies on the sterling performances of his actors (including Irene Papas as Montand's widow), and was rewarded with a pair of Oscar nominations.
- 80Time OutTime OutThe recreation of the murder and the subsequent investigation uses the techniques of an American thriller to gripping effect, though conspiracies are so commonplace nowadays that it's hard to imagine the impact it made at the time.
- 63Slant MagazineBill WeberSlant MagazineBill WeberForty years on, it’s still an eye-catching, fast-paced watch, but the plaudits it won as an uncompromising thriller and landmark cinema seem as shaky as the film’s villainous military officers’ insistence that its central murder was an accident.
- 40Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrZ doesn't communicate anything—except for the doubtful propositions that pacifists are more threatening to right-wingers than communists and that fascist terrorism and homosexuality go hand in hand.