Metacritic Movie Ratings
Babel Reviews

4.0

out of 100

Metascore^®
Generally favorable reviews
Based on a weighted average of all critic review scores.

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

90

out of 100

VarietyTodd McCarthy
Effectively building dread and emotional tension as tragic incidents triggered by human stupidity and carelessness steadily multiply, this film, like "21 Grams" in particular, employs a deterministically grim mindset in the cause of its philosophical aspirations, but is gripping nearly all the way.

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90

out of 100

The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
The filmmakers succeed brilliantly in weaving these stories together, taking time to explore depth of character and relationships. The suspense builds throughout as everyone involved becomes lost in a place they don't understand with people they don't know if they can trust.

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88

out of 100

USA TodayClaudia Puig
Babel may be the most ambitious movie of the year, tackling towering communication barriers, global politics and cultural divides in a structurally complex and fascinating narrative.

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80

out of 100

Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
The beauty of this film is in its lapidary details, which sparkle with feeling and surprise.

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80

out of 100

The New York TimesA.O. Scott
In the end Babel, like that tower in the book of Genesis, is a grand wreck, an incomplete monument to its own limitless ambition. But it is there, on the landscape, a startling and imposing reality. It's a folly, and also, perversely, a wonder.

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67

out of 100

Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Measured in anything other than biblical cubits, the sum of Babel's many parts turns out to be a picture that suggests Americans ought to stay home and treat their nannies better.

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40

out of 100

Wall Street Journal
The ultimate poor judgment: the decision to put Babel before the camera. That defies comprehension in any language.

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