Time’s Stephanie Zacharek was less keen, external on her performance, however, saying Jolie “plays her subject as haughtily cool and deeply insecure, but captures none of her imperious charisma”.
“Larraín does his movie no favours by using footage of the real Maria Callas in the closing credits sequence… [giving audiences] a jolt of all the vitality Jolie and Larraín have failed to capture.”
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson was also a little cooler, external on the movie, writing: “There is something arbitrary, unspecific about the film.
“With a few details removed, Maria could be about any grand diva, this blurry picture of a woman swanning through the final week of her life.”
Jolie’s previous film credits include Changeling, Maleficent, Salt, Mr & Mrs Smith, The Bone Collector and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Maria will be released in cinemas in the UK on 10 January.