91
Ulman’s black and white freshman feature is an absurdly and assuredly packed jack-in-the-box that’s short, sweet, and, incidentally, a quirky sharp, vainglorious commentary on these post-crisis, Robinhood Redditor times.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
RogerEbert.com by Christy Lemire
A mother-daughter bond shines through stark black-and-white cinematography and surreal humor in El Planeta.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
The plotting is haphazard and laced with meandering detours that don't always pay off, but there's a distinctive voice in the deadpan humor and poignancy in the story's collision of aspirational self-delusion with blithe resignation.
83
The appeal of El Planeta lies with a pair of women who prefer to live in the moment rather than considering its consequences.
80
There’s a fine, even invisible, line between dignity and denial in “El Planeta,” a fine-grained portrait of everyday poverty amid the lingering wreckage of the global financial crisis. Yet this pithy, distinctive debut feature from artist-turned-filmmaker Amalia Ulman eschews kitchen-sink realism for a deadpan vein of black comedy somewhere on the very wide spectrum between Lena Dunham and early Pedro Almodóvar.
88
Slant Magazine by Keith Watson
Amalia Ulman’s film is a bittersweet comedy of human behavior observed with a relaxed yet intently focused eye.
70
The movie is a shared experience between a mother and daughter that could tread into the undeniably cheesy or depressing territory but has a tattered joy to it. It’s a low-budget slice of life, which we don’t see too many of these days.
75
The Film Stage by Matt Cipolla
As a fully-fledged statement, El Planeta wavers about as much as it succeeds. As observational comedy with a bit of bite, it signals good things for Amalia Ulman as a filmmaker.
83
Paste Magazine by Natalia Keogan
The frequently complicated relationship between mother and daughter has fostered plenty of cinematic investigation, but El Planeta easily distinguishes itself as a uniquely meta and universal addition to the canon.
70
The New York Times by Teo Bugbee
This is a dry comedy that elicits amused recognition rather than belly laughs, and Ulman, as a first-time feature director, makes canny decisions to set a wry tone.