Director Benjamin Millepied’s gritty modern day take on the classic opera, with a score by Oscar-nominated composer Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)...
Director Benjamin Millepied’s gritty modern day take on the classic opera, with a score by Oscar-nominated composer Nicholas Britell (Moonlight) and starring Melissa Barrera (In the Heights) and Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal (Aftersun).
The story follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother, another strong and mysterious woman. Carmen survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group.
When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan—a Marine with PTSD—become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together. They make their way north toward Los Angeles in search of Carmen’s mother’s best friend, the mercurial Masilda and owner of La Sombra nightclub—a sanctuary of music and dance. Carmen and Aidan find both solace and their unwavering love for each other in the safety of Masilda’s magical refuge, but time is running out as the police hunt closes in.
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Where to watch Carmen (2023)
"It’s a sumptuous, dizzying big creative swing that connects on every storytelling level."
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RogerEbert.com
RogerEbert.com"(Carmen and Aidan's) trajectory couldn’t be simpler, but this film, at nearly two aimless hours, doesn’t seem interested in, or capable of, that kind of focus."
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The New York Times
The New York Times"You’ll see lots of movies in 2023, and you’ll forget most of them. But 'Carmen' is so sincerely passionate and peculiar that you’re bound to remember it."
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San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle"Mescal may not be a trained dancer, but he’s too good of an actor for that to matter..."
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IndieWire
IndieWire"When (Millepied's) instincts for flamboyance lead, his 'Carmen' casts a transporting spell."
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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times"By stripping the story back to its most elemental form, Millepied makes it feel mythic, poetic, and captivatingly romantic."
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Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine"Millepied directs an opera-free 'Carmen' that can't decide if it's a dance piece, an avant-garde musical or a straight-up melodrama."
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Variety
Variety"It’s ambitious, for sure. So why does this all feel so shallow, so overly stylised?"
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Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone"The screenplay... relies on clichéd dialogue that turns its characters into caricatures."
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Hollywood Reporter
Hollywood Reporter"If the actors are wasted, the composer is wasted even more so."
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IGN
IGNCarmen (2023) | Details
- Rating
- M, Violence, coarse language, a sex scene and brief nudity
- Runtime
- 116
- Genre
- Drama, Musical
- Country of origin
- Australia, France
