Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

In Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, Thomas Hardy's Victorian romantic tragedy "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" proves surprisingly adaptable to contemporary India.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

As a melodrama, Trishna builds a hypnotic force.

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

With Trishna, his (Winterbottom) penchant for risks has once again paid off.

The A.V. Club

Trishna is in love with India without romanticizing it.

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

The subtitle of Hardy's novel was "A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented," and that's the approach taken here.

The A.V. Club by Alison Willmore

Trishna is in love with India without romanticizing it.

Chicago Reader by J.R. Jones

Winterbottom, a Brit who's shot several films in India, carefully notes the local customs and mores that contribute to the young woman's tragic fall.

Movieline by Stephanie Zacharek

Though it's a bit of an oddity, it's an affecting curio suitable for both Hardy enthusiasts and Winterbottom fans alike.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by James Adams

Trishna, in short, seems to occur at too much of a remove; it's too fate-filled.

New York Post by Lou Lumenick

Pinto's lack of dramatic range (she basically has two expressions) and an awkward third act do not provide a solid foundation for Hardy's tragic ending.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

Winterbottom's risks are welcome; it may be time, though, to invest more heart instead of head.

Total Film by Neil Smith

Some will balk at Pinto's passivity, but Trishna again shows Winterbottom to be one of the few directors today who are liberated, rather than constricted, by classic literature.

Empire by David Hughes

The ever-versatile Winterbottom's loose and limber adaptation doesn't entirely mesh with Hardy's more formal narrative, leaving this feeling disjointed and underpowered. Nevertheless, there's still plenty to enjoy in the director's customary flourishes.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

Michael Winterbottom's films aren't always successful, but they're almost always interesting. And, in the case of this odd transplantation from Thomas Hardy's grim Wessex to the glare and blare of contemporary India, spectacular visually, though awfully somber dramatically.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

The shots of urban traffic jams have more spark than the story, which skips from a pregnancy to the filming of a musical to murder - without convincing us of any of it.

Slant Magazine by Andrew Schenker

Class privilege and sexual politics are inextricably linked in Trishna, Michael Winterbottom's blunt, self-consciously brutal, and rather loose updating of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles."

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

Life is suffering, as the Buddha said (including in Hardy's emotionally grinding novels), but it's more complex and contradictory than the ginned-up realism Mr. Winterbottom delivers here.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

Winterbottom's location work in Jaipur and Mumbai has richness and spectacle, but somehow this does not come fully to life.