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SummaryAt the dawn of the modern era, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (Gael García Bernal) navigated a fleet of ships to Southeast Asia, attempting the first voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean. On reaching the Malay Archipelago, the crew pushed to the brink of madness in the harshness of the high seas and overwhelming natural beauty of the isla... Read More

Directed By:Lav Diaz

Written By:Lav Diaz

Magellan

Metascore
89
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
My Score
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Metascore
89
100% Positive
13 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Jan 23, 2026
100
Washington Post
At 160 minutes, “Magellan” is one of the shortest and most accessible of Diaz’s films, which for the past decade have tended to fall between four and eight hours...But the scale of the film remains resolutely epic, in part because Diaz is patient and in part because he’s insistent on telling this story of conquest and domination on his terms.
Jan 13, 2026
100
Variety
The spirit of slow cinema is alive and languid in this stunningly mounted, politically rigorous work, which confronts any viewers hoping for a sweeping biographical romp with a frank post-colonial perspective, thoroughly and violently dismantling any romanticized legacy trailing the eponymous Portuguese navigator.
User score
Mixed or Average
5.9
54% Positive
13 Ratings
13% Mixed
3 Ratings
33% Negative
8 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Jan 24, 2026
10
Timo70
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
Sep 17, 2026
3
macarellidavid
I just got finished watching this turkey, and I would have to say that it was a humongous piece of junk. Considering how significant a story it is from a historical point of view, they just didn't do much with the story or the concept. And it was totally devoid of any sort of Maritime theme, nor did they take advantage of the possibility of showing the spirit of adventure and ocean crossings that they should have and could have shown. And what about the cartographic aspect, that was completely left out. I don't know what the production team, the writers and the director thought they were accomplishing with this film, but I do not think they could have made it more dull, if they had been trying to achieve that. The other abject failure of this movie was the editing, they had scenes the lasted 6 minutes that should have been 40 seconds where there was absolutely nothing going on. It made the film feel disjointed and like a hot mess. It was also poorly written, and the direction was completely off. I feel like this film failed on just about every level other than some of the production values and a couple of the performances. It was mind numbingly dull.
Jan 8, 2026
91
The A.V. Club
Diaz makes a mockery of Magellan in his depiction of the revered globetrotter, his take on the Age Of Discovery damning to say the least.
Jan 8, 2026
90
The New York Times
The most arresting way that Diaz telegraphs, though, is through the sheer beauty of his images. The movie is often visually intoxicating, at moments gasp-out-loud ravishing, especially in its presentation of the natural world, which can have a soft visual quality that deepens the sense of otherworldliness.
Apr 24, 2026
80
Wall Street Journal
Everyone is doomed in Mr. Diaz’s account of European colonialism and exploratory naval history—not just the primitive Filipinos and Indonesians but the Portuguese on the mission from their silent God. And their covetous king.
Aug 30, 2025
75
IndieWire
A hypnotizing historical and spiritual epic that’s immersive in a way that few decades-spanning stories successfully pull off.
Aug 30, 2025
67
The Film Stage
There’s much to like here, but I never felt I was seeing a fully-realized vision.
See All 13 Critic Reviews
Apr 17, 2026
2
danwood
I completely failed to get the pace of the filming. In very chaotic scenes, where I had expected a faster change of views to reflect the tension, it was more like the camera was merely observing. Some scenes were still for so long that I began to fast forward. All in all I think the movie was extraordinarily poorly edited.
See All 24 User Reviews
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  • Rosa Filmes
  • Andergraun Films
  • Black Cap Pictures
  • Lib Films
  • El Viaje Films
  • Volos Films
  • Ten17P
  • Ultramarina Filmes
  • Arte France
Jan 9, 2026
2 h 40 m

Awards

Society of Filipino Film Reviewers
• 1 Win & 5 Nominations
Gawad Urian Awards
• 3 Nominations
FAMAS Awards
• 3 Nominations
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