Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

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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Critics Reviews

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Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (1) 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 Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (2) 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 Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (3) 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 Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (4) 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 Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (5) 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 Carmen (2022) | Rotten Tomatoes (6) 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 Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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tb8282 Beautiful movie. Loved the scenery. Rated 5/5 Stars • 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 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/04/23 Full Review Mikki L I love this movie so much Rated 5/5 Stars • 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 5/5 Stars • 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 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/07/23 Full Review Bob S tasty and beautiful and heartfelt and fun Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Valerie Buhagiar Director Natascha McElhone Carmen Michela Farrugia Rita Steven Love Paulo Richard Clarkin Tom Henry Zammit Cordina Fr. Francis
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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
Falkun Films, Aiken Heart 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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