Variety by David Rooney

A thoughtful, restrained, refreshingly nonjudgmental melodrama that reflects on interesting questions regarding sexuality, identity and self-acceptance.

Film Threat by Ron Wells

The final result becomes a search not for a knight in shining armor, but one of acceptance for one's own identity.

Miami Herald by Marta Barber

An engaging and powerful portrayal of puberty gone awry.

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

A sympathetic look at what it's like to be a Brazilian transsexual prostitute working in Milan.

The New York Times by Dana Stevens

It could easily have become either prurient or moralistic, but Mr. Goldman's stance is that of a sympathetic observer, and his style combines ground-level realism with a touch of Almodóvarian extravagance.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

The well-made Princesa is daring, for it ends on an upbeat note in circumstances that are traditionally treated otherwise.

New Times (L.A.) by David Ehrenstein

It's odd for a film to be both dramatically conventional yet emotionally bizarre at the same time, as this one is.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

Features abundant sex and nudity, yet it manages to tell its story (based on a real character) with great sensitivity.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

This raw and raunchy drama from director Henrique Goldman offers what few feature films have ever bothered to attempt: a realistic, wholly sympathetic look at the lives of transgendered prostitutes.

Village Voice by Ed Park

Unsettling in spots, Princesa ultimately glosses over the futility of Fernanda's plight, her misery rapidly erased.

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

An evocative melancholy hangs over Princesa, Henrique Goldman's intermittently affecting tale.