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Alamar (To the Sea)
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    80
    A joyous exploration of family life that will touch and surprise.
  2. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    80
    Nature smiles upon Alamar, just as it did on the simple, unfussy charms of "The Black Stallion" some 30 years ago.
  3. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: John P. McCarthy
    80
    A beguiling cross between fiction and non-fiction, Alamar regards the relationship three Mexican males have with the sea.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    80
    Alamar provides a nearly hypnotic immersion in the brilliantly aqua, impossibly tranquil Caribbean--a Paradise Regained not just for Natan, but for everyone
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    It is to González-Rubio's credit that he can celebrate nature so joyously, yet suggest neither the preferred lifestyle of either parent is superior to the other.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    The characters in Alamar may be playing versions of themselves, but the writer, editor and director Pedro González-Rubio has constructed a film in which the journey has an overarching mythic resonance that evokes fables from "Robinson Crusoe" to "The Old Man and the Sea."
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jay Weissberg
    80
    A lovely, soulful feature from multihyphenate Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio that plays on the border between documentary and fiction.
  8. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    The plot of the gorgeous Mexican film Alamar -- a father-son vacation -- isn't what Hollywood calls "high concept." But thanks to director-cinematographer-editor Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, the film might be called "high enjoyment."
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: David Lewis
    75
    A deceptively simple but enchanting story about a father who bonds with his young son on the Mexican sea, accomplishes something quite complex: It provides a breathtaking sense of place, chronicles in intimate detail a way of life, and touches us with a relationship that develops naturally, right before our eyes.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Loren King
    75
    A luminous love letter to the Banco Chinchorro, the largest coral reef off Mexico's coast, and to the tender bonds between a father and son.
  11. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    75
    There isn't much to Alamar--and González-Rubio sometimes seems to go out of his way to keep the film uncluttered by incident-but it's short and agreeable, and touching.
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