If this trilogy finishes up strong, this middle portion may come to be seen as the weakest, though it's still forceful and intimate in the von Trier manner.

[It] raises interesting questions about what can happen in a democracy when its people are deeply corrupt. ... But likely to be more disheartened than enlightened.

this Great Dane backs up his satiric bark with a vicious bite.

A slightly more ponderous - if less dramatically satisfying - example of a Von Trier puppet show.

Relying on a daring script as executed by A-list actors, offers a potentially transformational experience for any inclined to contemplate an introspective, gut-wrenching meditation on the intractability of the legacy of slavery.

Manderlay is shorter but just as dull, pretentious and condescending as Dogville.

Click to read the article

Manderlay loses in power what it lacks in novelty, even though it's more relevant than anything the year is likely to bring.

I was intrigued by the intensity and audaciousness of Dogville, but Manderlay feels stagey, earnest, long and pretentious. Its grainy, shaky hand-held camera-work only adds to the monotony.

The audience's familiarity with the stylistic devices of Manderlay should allow the film's more reflective screenplay to shine through.