The New York Times by A.O. Scott

The blend of pornography and humor, obnoxiousness and elegance, sweetness and cruelty reminds you that this is, above all, an Abel Ferrara movie. And the splendor of Pasolini lies in its essentially collaborative nature.

Slant Magazine by Jake Cole

Biopics ascribe titanic importance to a subject's every gesture, but Ferrara stresses the reality of creation, of its ordinary activities that nonetheless give an artist a sense of fulfillment.

RogerEbert.com by Matt Zoller Seitz

A love letter from one iconoclastic Italian Catholic artist to another, Abel Ferrara's Pasolini stays far from the cliches of the Hollywood biopic, embracing a fragmented, intense, impressionistic approach.

Time Out by Trevor Johnston

To be fair, the full impact probably depends on some prior Pasolini knowledge, but even those coming in fresh will appreciate a haunting portrait of an artist destroyed by the anticommunist prejudices he fought to tear down.

The Telegraph by Robbie Collin

Ferrara has come up with something pretty special here: a subtle, seductive, lamp-lit hymn to one artist’s talents from another in the process of rediscovering his own.

The Guardian by Xan Brooks

It’s a work of startling maturity from this incorrigible tearaway, a minor-key dream that finally turns towards darkness.

The Observer (UK) by Mark Kermode

“Narrative art is dead – we are in a period of mourning”; “To scandalise is a right, to be scandalised a pleasure”; “Refusal must be great, absolute, absurd…” Abel Ferrara’s infatuated tribute to Pier Paolo Pasolini is littered with such gnomic bon mots, which could apply equally to either director.

The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

And yet the movie never errs in its sincerity, which extends all the way to the decision to depict Pasolini’s murder in graphic detail.

The Film Stage by Tommaso Tocci

It’s an absorbing portrait, particularly compelling when relying on Pasolini’s own words, which we hear verbatim through original letters and interviews.

TheWrap by Dave White

With this determination to eschew simple explanations, to avoid being reductive about the cause and effect of an artist’s work and life, and to remain true to the cloudy circumstances surrounding Pasolini’s murder, comes a troubling directorial decision to turn the man’s death into a symbol — of what is unclear.

The Playlist by Jessica Kiang

Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini is a frustrating film, despite vast stretches of compelling storytelling.

CineVue by John Bleasdale

One feels its subject would have admired the boldness of its conception, if perhaps not its overly slick execution.

Variety by Peter Debruge

Ferrara finds himself imitating rather than innovating.

The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney

It was a given that this meeting of two iconoclastic directors would yield something far more unfettered and instinctive than conventional bio-drama. But the result borders on incoherence, providing few startling insights for aficionados and minimal illumination for the uninitiated.

Hitfix

Ferrara is openly inviting comparison with Pasolini’s work in this ambitious but messy and flawed piece, where reality bends and stretches and sensation rules.