45
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonWrongly branded misogynist by PC kneejerkers, this is a scathing assault on the exploitative nature of pornography and the emptiness of sex without love.
- 80Time Out LondonTime Out LondonThe film’s meandering, surrealist-kissed, early scenes dance nicely in time with his urban protagonist’s disconnected, existential malaise.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe director is, you won't be surprised to learn, Tsai Ming-laing, whose deadpan humor and minimalist lensing has made him a god among film geeks.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineTsai's most off-putting work is nonetheless worthy of intense and ongoing consideration.
- [A] highly idiosyncratic semi-musical.
- 40The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottIt feels willed, aggressive and unconvincing -- clammy rather than cool -- in a way that suggests artistic frustration rather than discovery. The water shortage may be a metaphor for the director’s creative desiccation, which his admirers can only hope is temporary.
- 30Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumTsai's obvious disgust at the sex is part of what makes the film so unpleasant; he remains a brilliant original, but this is a parody of his gifts.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterRichard James HavisThe Hollywood ReporterRichard James HavisThis silly film does nothing to enhance Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang's reputation. The acting is below par, the mise-en-scene is clumsy and the structure is lazy.
- 20Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe Wayward Cloud fails as allegory, human story, anti-porn screed, postmodern musical, and even formal delight (Tsai's emptied-out aesthetic has never felt so empty, his mannerisms so pointlessly mannered), but it seems to have worked well enough as a necessary purge.