80
Variety
At first, the picture seems a slow-moving, particularly well-framed ethnographic study of life in the big city in Peru; it only gradually becomes clear that Llosa's second feature perfectly aligns form and content.
The Milk of Sorrow (La teta asustada)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Spain,
- Peru
- 2009
- · 94m
Director
Claudia Llosa
Cast
Magaly Solier,
Susi Sánchez,
Efraín Solís,
Marino Ballón
Genre
Drama
Fausta is suffering from a rare disease called the Milk of Sorrow, which is transmitted through the breast milk of pregnant women who were abused or raped during or soon after pregnancy. While living in constant fear and confusion due to this disease, she must face the sudden death of her mother. She chooses to take drastic measures to not follow in her mother's footsteps.
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What are critics saying?
80
The Hollywood Reporter
The film is gorgeously shot and contains a plethora of haunting images.
80
Village Voice by Ella Taylor
In this wonderfully strange, hypnotically beautiful second feature from writer-director Claudia Llosa, the traumatic experience of the 1980s civil war on Peruvian women is passed down through song and, it is said, through their mothers' milk.
80
Movieline by Michelle Orange
A sweeping theme writ small and somewhat gnarly, The Milk of Sorrow is, as Llosa has written, about "unresolved, violent, personal and collective memory" and a "metaphor for breakdown."
80
Empire by David Parkinson
A rich and imaginative evocation of a family in turmoil.
80
Variety by Boyd van Hoeij
At first, the picture seems a slow-moving, particularly well-framed ethnographic study of life in the big city in Peru; it only gradually becomes clear that Llosa's second feature perfectly aligns form and content.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by Peter Brunette
The film is gorgeously shot and contains a plethora of haunting images.
75
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
Magaly Solier is compelling as the teen. She has little to say, as the camera remains fixated on her expressionless face.
75
The A.V. Club by Noel Murray
The Milk Of Sorrow is lousy with allegory, and is often too heavy for its own good.
70
Los Angeles Times
Solier delivers a performance of ferocious but frustrating reserve.
70
Los Angeles Times by Sheri Linden
Solier delivers a performance of ferocious but frustrating reserve.
60
Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf
The transformation that you anticipate never comes; the movie feels strangled.
50
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
The Milk of Sorrow is constrained by a rarefied screenplay and a near-mute central performance.
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