A freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla, his interactions with Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan's daughter Anne, and his breakthroughs in transmitting electrical power and light.... (Full plot summary below)
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A freewheeling take on visionary inventor Nikola Tesla, his interactions with Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan's daughter Anne, and his breakthroughs in transmitting electrical power and light.
Leave your thoughts about Tesla.
| Consequence of SoundClint WorthingtonBoth here and in the real world, Tesla is more legend than man, and we can only ever really comprehend him through that warped lens. Almereyda understands this fundamental hurdle in the biopic formula, and leans into it with refreshing candor. |
| PolygonKaren HanThe film’s experimental nature makes it tougher to swallow than a conventional biopic, but also more interesting and rewarding to engage with. Great performances help keep the whole enterprise anchored — Hawke and MacLachlan are wonderful as men caught in conflict with each other — and the anachronisms provide food for thought long after the film has ended. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperI found it to be a fantastically creative, fourth-wall-breaking, pop-art waking dream. |
| Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangWhat comes through most in Hawke’s brilliantly internalized performance is Tesla’s intense commitment to his work, as well as his weariness about having to continually explain and defend it to men of deeper pockets and lesser minds. The progress of human civilization can be infuriatingly banal, which doesn’t mean our biopics have to be. |
| IndieWireDavid EhrlichIf Almereyda fails to pierce the inventor’s skin and expose his circuity, his gauzy film nevertheless has fun exploring the idea that we’re all wired differently. |
| Slant MagazineChuck BowenA profound sense of restlessness and loneliness haunts Michael Almereyda’s film, which reinvigorates the biopic genre. |
| The Film StageDan MeccaThe messy creativity on display is something to admire. |
| The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe degree to which the Tesla story syncs with Almereyda's abiding fascinations is clear in every frame of this contemplative, questioning, soulfully philosophical film. |
| Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerIt's rebellious within an era of restraint, bathing Tesla in glowing pastel shades in a time of mahogany, leather, and steam. |
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt’s an arthouse production made with arthouse audiences in mind but I found it to be a more compelling experience than the equally “important” (but entirely too safe) "Radioactive," which played in the same general historical era with less zest. |
