76
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeMarcos’ print-the-legend philosophy has particular resonance in a post-truth world, although such sinister undertones sneak up on audiences in a movie that begins, innocently enough, as the latest of Greenfield’s astonishing portraits of wealth run amok.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonAn enraging portrait of entitlement, opulence and corruption, The Kingmaker starts as a profile of Imelda Marcos but soon widens its perspective to depict a Philippines in peril.
- 80TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanTheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanThough Greenfield is too skilled to overplay her intentions, the picture that emerges gains additional power from its clarifying distance. The Kingmaker is required viewing for anyone concerned about the direction of their own democracy.
- 80Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangLos Angeles TimesJustin ChangThe Kingmaker may end on a queasy note of alarm about the Philippines’ future, but it also reminds us that we neglect the past at our peril.
- 75The PlaylistChris BarsantiThe PlaylistChris BarsantiMaybe Marcos imagined this documentary would humanize her. Greenfield did. But not in the way that her subject would have preferred.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyAn engaging, appalling but inevitably partial portrait of a woman who has navigated through countless political and personal squalls but remains irretrievably drawn to the flame of power.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisIt’s an ugly story shrewdly told, with a sense of humor and also a deeper feeling for history.
- 67The A.V. ClubLawrence GarciaThe A.V. ClubLawrence GarciaWhile researching the project, Greenfield herself thought she might find a “redemption story.” But the film eventually proves to be a far more troubling examination of the Marcoses’ continued political hold in the Philippines.
- 63Slant MagazineChristopher GraySlant MagazineChristopher GrayThe film confirms that the ruthless knack of the wealthy and powerful to remain so is a universal impulse.