88
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangNuri Bilge Ceylan is at the peak of his powers with Winter Sleep, a richly engrossing and ravishingly beautiful magnum opus that surely qualifies as the least boring 196-minute movie ever made.
- 91IndieWireEric KohnIndieWireEric KohnWhile it doesn't always earn its heft, Winter Sleep is both subdued and rich in details, its plot growing slowly over a series of extensive conversations. It's a robust, challenging experience he's been building toward with his previous features, as well as an adventurous step above them.
- 88Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoStaring deep into the darkness of an apparently static character, Nuri Bilge Ceylan again exhibits his gift for making interesting stories out of predetermined plots, locating small eddies of change in the midst of eternally fixed dynamics.
- 80CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleWith a richness of characterisation usually reserved for hefty novels, each shot in Winter Sleep glows like a symbol, whilst each digression is almost a short story in itself.
- 80The GuardianXan BrooksThe GuardianXan BrooksIn fits and starts, this is a stunning picture. At its best, Winter Sleep shows Ceylan to be as psychologically rigorous, in his way, as Ingmar Bergman before him.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe final half-hour is a joy to watch, as turning points follow in rapid succession.
- 80The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinThis is a beautiful, bold, intently serious film.
- 80Time Out LondonDave CalhounTime Out LondonDave CalhounWhen the film gets outdoors, it soars, and Ceylan continues to dig with acute intelligence into the dark corners of everyday human behaviour.
- 80EmpireEmpireIt will test your concentration, resolve and butt cheeks to the limit but Winter Sleep will reward your staying power: a perfectly played, beautiful-looking, exquisitely nuanced picture. Would make a great, if gruelling, decaying-wedlock double bill with "Gone Girl."
- 50The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangThe overwriting of every single discussion smacks less of realistic debate than of a writer/director in the throes of a fit of didacticism who simply never trusts his audience to get his meaning without it being iterated and reiterated to the point of white noise.