"Some films offer up their mysteries openly; others, like the quietly affecting Sri Lankan film The Forsaken Land, keep their secrets close, revealing them gradually, shot by shot, scene by scene. Directed and written by the young Sri Lankan filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara, this fine and moody first feature takes place on a desolate stretch of wind-swept coast far from the big city and much of anything else that might evoke the modern world. Here, amid the swaying palms and an occasional pool of blood, men and women drift through life as if they were ghosts, casualties of a civil war that hangs over them like a curse. (…) Like Antonioni, who once dyed grass in one of his films to underscore “the sense of desolation”, Jayasundara uses color both to create an enveloping mood and to underscore the medium’s plasticity. Given that Sri Lanka’s horrific history could easily overwhelm even the boldest aesthetic voice, this expressionistic gambit seems as smart as it may be necessary. (…) Eros and Thanatos keep company in The Forsaken Land, which is filled with the kind of frantic coupling that alternately suggests a doomsday scenario (you have five minutes left, go!) or a passionate affirmation of life."
(Manohla Dargis, The New York Times)