47
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneAn engaging character study, steeped in religion, demonology and community politics.
- 75Boston GlobeBoston GlobeAn odd but original, at times even poetic, film about a vanished world.
- 67Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerFor all it's warmth and wonder, it carries little more power than a storybook fable.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleWesley MorrisSan Francisco ChronicleWesley MorrisThe film has a persuasive murkiness and one extended mythopoetic final sequence that's almost moving in its silence.
- 50TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThough the film ends on a surprising and genuinely magical note, it takes its own sweet time getting there; some viewers will have lost patience before the denouement arrives.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThis historical fantasy is too ambitious for its own good, but contains some striking imagery and likable performances.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe more I think about Simon Magus, the less I'm sure what it's trying to say.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenMay be reasonably diverting, but the story never matches the movie's fantastic visual imagination.
- 40Film.comRobert HortonFilm.comRobert HortonThe brainchild of English director Ben Hopkins, who takes his time getting going. Too much time, really, as the first hour passes rather antsily, without quite achieving forward motion.
- 38New York PostJonathan ForemanNew York PostJonathan ForemanBoring and irritating, and also mildly offensive in its ignorant depiction of both Judaism and Catholicism.