wrapped up in Portman's like-it-or-loathe-it-you-cannot-ignore-it performance and Corbet's astonishingly confident filmmaking chutzpah, it somehow becomes a jagged, messy but endlessly intriguing whole
starring a ferocious Natalie Portman as a pop diva in freefall, Brady Corbet's sophomore feature is a bold, often brilliant trip through the celebrity spin cycle
Brady Corbet's "Vox Lux" satisfies any showbiz-melodrama cravings you may harbour; Corbet's work is a big, sloppy wet kiss to all manner of rise-and-fall cliches. Yet it mostly works
a deliciously rich treatise on toxic fame and weapons of mass seduction; "Vox Lux" is a far more substantial and satisfying film, rich in meaty performances, novelistic texture and stylistic verve
"Vox Lux" is a powerful, haunting film in part because Natalie Portman is a powerful, haunting presence -- you can't turn away from her, even if you occasionally want to
by Barry Hertz [Globe and Mail ]
