upon its theatrical release, "zama" received universal acclaim from the argentine press. on the argentine website todas las críticas, which collects local reviews, the film has an average rating of 82 out of 100 and an approval rating of 88%, based on 41 reviews. luciano monteagudo of "página/12" praised martel's direction and considered "zama" to be "a new peak in her work, a film with a visual and sound complexity that is out of the norm in contemporary cinema, capable of breaking with narrative linearity to go in search of a colonial past that can only be imagined in a fragmentary way, as one who explores his identity in the remnants of what is called history." an enthusiastic review came from "clarín"s pablo o. scholz, who called it "an invitation to the senses, a film that floods, overflows in more than one meaning" and a "captivating experience." writing for "la nación", maría fernanda mugica stated that "zama" was "work of art that requires an attentive, patient and open viewer", feeling that "it is admired since the first shot but it begins to be better appreciated later, when the fascination for the beauty of the images and the intensity of the sounds leave room in the viewer for a connection with the frustration experienced by its protagonist". writing for otros cines, diego batlle gave the film the highest rating and compared it to the work of terrence malick, werner herzog, john ford and claire denis, while stating: "but martel's cinema is unique, non-transferable, inimitable, incomparable."