Zama · reception & legacy
2017 · Lucrecia Martel
How Zama has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
It arrived at Venice 2017 as Martel's long-awaited return after a nine-year gap and was instantly hailed by critics — topping year-end polls at Film Comment and Cinema Scope — and it has only climbed since, now a fixture on best-of-the-2010s and 21st-century-canon lists.
What's debated
The perennial fight: masterpiece of disorienting, sensory 'slow cinema' or an inscrutable endurance test — the film cinephiles love to defend against the 'nothing happens' crowd.
Its footprint
Among film fans its most beloved image is the llama that casually wanders through an official's office mid-scene — a shot endlessly screencapped and cited as proof of Martel's deadpan genius, alongside the film's uncanny, buzzing sound design.
Where it stands
A canon climber and art-house 'you must see this' — the consensus pick for one of the great films of the 2010s and the crown jewel of Letterboxd's slow-cinema devotees.