The film received largely positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival . Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 88 % rating based on reviews from 128 critics , with an average score of 7.2 / 10 . Metacritic gives the film a score of 68 based on reviews from 31 critics , indicating " Generally favorable . " Scott Foundas , in his review for '' Variety '' , gave the film a positive review by saying that " A beguiling fable of buried treasure and movie-fed obsession " and added that " At every turn , we can sense what ’s going on behind Kumiko ’s doleful , downcast eyes ; Kikuchi pulls us deeply into her world . " Todd McCarthy in his review for '' The Hollywood Reporter '' called the film " A work of rigorously disciplined eccentricity , Kumiko , the Treasure Hunter is at once entirely accessible and yet appealing only to a rarified crowd ready to key into its narrow-bandwidth sense of humor . " Eric Kohn of '' Indiewire '' praised the film and said that " Striking a complex tone of tragedy and uplift at the same time , '' Kumiko , the Treasure Hunter '' both celebrates the escapist power of personal fantasies and bears witness to their dangerous extremes . It 's the rare case of a story that 's inspirational and devastating at once . " David Ehrlich of ''Film.com '' gave the film 9.1 out of 10 and said that " Less of an homage to '' Fargo '' than the next appendage of the same exquisite corpse , '' Kumiko , the Treasure Hunter '' plays like a dryly hilarious riff on '' Do n't Look Now '' " but ultimately said that " it 's one of the best films to ever premiere at Sundance . " The film went on to be nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards : Best Director and Best Female Lead . For his work on '' Kumiko '' and other films , Producer Chris Ohlson received the Spirit Award 's Piaget Producers Award
2014 Sundance Film Festival
2014 Sundance Film Festival
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter