Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz

In theory, we go to movies for enjoyment. Director Rodrigo Cortés inverts that notion with Buried, a terrific, claustrophobic, fist-clenching film in which he tortures his audience in exquisite fashion.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips

This exercise in racked nerves makes most of the year's thrillers look like flailing maniacs by comparison.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The use of 2:35 wide screen paradoxically increases the effect of claustrophobia. I would not like to be buried alive.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

The movie works not because of twists and switchbacks in the narrative, but because of the skill with which Cortés has conceived this singularly disturbing nightmare.

USA Today by Claudia Puig

Those drawn to unusual, unflinching feats of filmmaking and rare acting turns as well as sustained suspense will be captivated by Buried.

Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy

Balanced precariously between a horror film and a war movie, but it's so sly and assured that you can't dismiss the allegorical, even satirical undertones that Cortés teases out of Sparling's conceit.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

The movie's real asset is Reynolds himself, utilizing his comedy chops for unexpected levity.

Variety by Rob Nelson

In purely cinematic terms, Buried, set in late 2006, is an ingenious exercise in sustained tension that would make Alfred Hitchcock turn over in his grave.

NPR by Jeannette Catsoulis

It's brilliantly silly entertainment whose flaws are glaring only in hindsight; in the moment, you'll have much more fun if you stop looking for holes in the script and join Paul in looking for a way out.

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

Just when it seems he's left himself with no way out, he comes up with a finish guaranteed to leave you breathless.

The A.V. Club by Noel Murray

Buried is as much about dropped calls, getting sent to voicemail, and being openly lied to by our institutions as it about being buried alive by terrorists.

Observer by Rex Reed

The effect is genuinely creepy, but do not even think of seeing Buried if you suffer from claustrophobia.

Boxoffice Magazine by Amy Nicholson

The best parts of Sparling's script play like an absurdist snuff film.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

The political angle is gratuitous, even foolish, and certainly a distraction from the movie's visual strengths.

Chicago Reader by Andrea Gronvall

As a cautionary tale about the perils of nation building, this is both creepy and provocative, but director Rodrigo Cortés blows it in the last few minutes with a rushed ending that feels like a cheat after all the escalating tension.

Village Voice

Rodrigo Cortes keeps the action bound to the box, limiting his lighting to naturalistic approximations, so that much of Reynolds's performance consists of him grunting and heaving in the dark.