Horse Money

2014

1h 43m

Drama

List

83%

Tomatometer

40 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

When Ventura becomes lost in the woods, the people of Fontainhas search for him.

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Critics Consensus

Horse Money continues director Pedro Costa's elegiac explorations of poverty and survival, withholding a clear narrative while delivering an evocative journey with distinctive visuals.

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

This Portugese oddity represents arthouse film-making taken to insanely inscrutable heights.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 2, 2016

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Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

The director has plenty of influences, Stanley Kubrick and Old Hollywood classicists such as John Ford among them. But his style is his own: exacting, but dreamlike.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 14, 2016

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Best to let the film's mesmerising tableaux descend upon you in the dreamy darkness, then sift its haunting memories for precise meaning in the hours, days and weeks that follow.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 20, 2015

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Fernando E. Juan Lima

Otroscines.com

... The sepia color palette leaves little room for hope. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/5

Dec 29, 2023

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Dustin Chang

ScreenAnarchy

...a long, surreal, mesmerizing elevator ride with Ventura and a faceless, scary soldier with a rifle. The nightmarish scene can be interpreted as Costa's therapy session for Ventura, exorcising his past demons that he desperately wants to do without.

Feb 21, 2021

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

Costa's grim, joyless filmmaking is useful at communicating one or two emotions. This is not a film taken from life. The director is too obviously striving to impress.

Feb 12, 2021

Full Review

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Audience Member

To say this film is heavy with symbolism, imagery is an understatement. Then there's the darkness, shadow, and the gravitas they carry. This is why the visual aspects of cinema will always be the preeminent strength, the essence of film. Then add in Costa's use of dialogue mixed with the singing of folk-type songs that carry such personal, cultural weight. One to revisit, if I can? 3.2 stars

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watching it a second time would be more revealing but it wasn't worth that to me. Any movie you have to watch twice isn't worth it. Some times people make it to artsy fartsy for their own good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautifully composed where every frame is an art still in itself. The script is dreamlike and seemingly directionless but all can be pieced together into a deeper and broader metal picture. Patience required.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Obtuse to the point of obfuscation. Perhaps foreknowledge of the subject matter would help, but on its own the movie has little to offer beyond a few well composed shots and an apparent hostility to those who aren't already "in the know."

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Pedro Costa

Director

Tito Furtado

Actor

Vitalina Varela

Actor

Ventura

Self

Pedro Costa

Screenwriter

Leonardo Simões

Cinematographer

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Despite Visual Flash, Pixels Isn’t Worth Your Quarters

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Synopsis

When Ventura becomes lost in the woods, the people of Fontainhas search for him.

Director: Pedro Costa
Screenwriter: Pedro Costa
Production Co: Sociedade Óptica Técnica
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Brazilian Portuguese
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2016
Runtime: 1h 43m

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