Addison Standley’s review published on Letterboxd:
Second viewing. Still the greatest film about poverty ever made; before I started it up again I had expected it to lose a bit of its luster, considering I had first watched it last year when my ideas about cinema were still developing, but it's sheer inventiveness (Buñuel, even in his lesser work, is still unrivaled in his visual economy and his ability to tap into the subconscious of his characters without it feeling out of place) and the depths it reaches in its feverish examination of capitalism's effect on the poor (creating an environment in which the inhabitants of decrepit shacks and crumbling apartments prey on each other in the most savage ways imaginable) remains without equal. I almost hope this doesn't get a restoration, because the grimy print currently available online only enhances the grim, nightmarish quality of the subject.
Really the only complaint I have is that it would've been nice if the latter half of the film had a scene or two more involving Pedro's mother, because her shift from loathing her son to suddenly loving and wanting to look for him feels like it comes out of the blue (in fact I went back and re-watched the scene with them both at the police office; it's weirdly stuck in the schism between being believable and too sudden. Perhaps that was the intent?). Otherwise, this is a total masterwork and possibly my favorite Buñuel, at least until I watch Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie again or finally see Belle de Jour.