Carmen

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1:42

Carmen

Released Sep 23, 2022

1h 28m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

24 Reviews

98%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

CARMEN is perhaps veteran director and accomplished actor Valerie Buhagiar's most joyous film outing yet. Set in a sun-dappled village in Malta in the 1980s, Natascha McElhone gives a career-best performance as a 50-year-old woman finding a new start in life through romance. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light. In Malta, it is tradition for the younger sister to devote her life to the church when an older brother enters the priesthood. Inspired by true events, Carmen lives a life of servitude from the age of 16 until 50, when her brother dies. Realizing her own mortality, she leaves the church and makes up for lost time.

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Noel Murray

Los Angeles Times

Natascha McElhone is a wonder in writer-director Valerie Buhagiar’s charming dramedy “Carmen,” a film about a long-overlooked woman who finally comes out of her shell and puts a lifetime of silent observations to use.

Sep 23, 2022

Full Review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

The final warm embrace of the people who had previously scorned Carmen wraps the film in a feel-good ending that rewards the viewer’s concern for her general welfare and erases the sting of the repressive and patriarchal customs.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Teo Bugbee

New York Times

In a movie where the central theme is a divorce from orthodoxy, the writer and director Valerie Buhagiar makes the wise decision to orient her film toward what’s pleasurable rather than what’s logical.

Sep 22, 2022

Full Review

Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

Star Natascha McElhone is as beguiling as ever, though the tone of the film is very understated

Feb 13, 2024

Full Review

Nuha Hassan

Nuha Hassan (Medium)

Carmen is a delight. There’s humour and sadness, all piled together into this memorable movie that speaks volumes of how a woman’s life.

Sep 8, 2023

Full Review

Ruth Maramis

FlixChatter Film Blog

McElhone is a delight to watch, able to balance the poignant and comedic elements seamlessly. It's an uplifting celebration of a woman finally finding her voice.

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 24, 2023

Full Review

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tb8282

Beautiful movie. Loved the scenery.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/13/23

Full Review

Sal D

This is a movie that highlights Natasha McElhone's exceptional acting talents, which compensate for a script that needed another rewrite. The film is a worthwhile watch but I wish writer/director Buhagier added more flesh and contrast to what otherwise would've been a fascinating tale of devotion at the expense of Carmen's personal life.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/04/23

Full Review

Mikki L

I love this movie so much

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/04/23

Full Review

David Y

A joy to watch , beautiful set location, wholesome and innocent but delightful!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/02/23

Full Review

John O

Spoilers: It may be that the only thing on Earth prettier than Natascha's face is her smile. As in many movies, suspension of disbelief is required, as here. How likely is it a woman who has been eyes cast down, full-time servant to her brother the priest, who acted more like her god, would break the habits of 34 years like that. Implausible, but what militates in its favor is that the bishop treated her like there was no place for her to continue serving the church. Now, that would get anyone's Irish up, or Maltese in this case. The interesting events that land her in the priest's spot in the confessional box, desperate for just sustenance, lets her say to herself I can really help by telling these people what is best, not the nonsense being spewed for centuries by powermongering, patriarchal, sexist control freaks. At the end, after the people figured out what had happened, they loved her for it. The love of her life, the Romeo "Arab" to her teenage Juliet Christian, who seems to have been slain by her own family, was so long gone, it was hard to take another chance on love. But the much younger nice guy pawn shop empresario gave her a chance, her beauty no small element, as she gave him a chance, needing her own new lease on life. The image of the bird showing her the way was right back to Christianity, as the image of omnipresent God the Holy Spirit is just that -- a bird. The goofy music kept the whole thing light, as did people singing. Her departure from the church had its own odyssey, as she returned to the church in the confessional, people dying for her counsel. Point being, hey, things don't always have to make sense if you are trying to do what's best. Bravo! Call it a parable, a metaphor, an allegory. Rarely does a movie get 100 tomato and 98 popcorn.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/07/23

Full Review

Bob S

tasty and beautiful and heartfelt and fun

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/29/23

Full Review

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Carmen: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

CARMEN is perhaps veteran director and accomplished actor Valerie Buhagiar's most joyous film outing yet. Set in a sun-dappled village in Malta in the 1980s, Natascha McElhone gives a career-best performance as a 50-year-old woman finding a new start in life through romance. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light. In Malta, it is tradition for the younger sister to devote her life to the church when an older brother enters the priesthood. Inspired by true events, Carmen lives a life of servitude from the age of 16 until 50, when her brother dies. Realizing her own mortality, she leaves the church and makes up for lost time.

Director: Valerie Buhagiar
Producer: Coral Aiken, Pierre Ellul, Anika Psaila Savona
Screenwriter: Valerie Buhagiar
Distributor: Good Deed Entertainment
Production Co: Aiken Heart Films, Falkun Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2022
Runtime: 1h 28m

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