
Like the audience itself, Jesús is initially both fearful and puzzled, gradually learning to live with his new condition. Meanwhile, the device is desperately wanted by Angel de la Guardia (Ron Perlman), an ugly American whose second fondest dream is having plastic surgery. De la Guardia’s first wish is to save the life of his uncle, an industrialist named Dieter, by securing the Cronos and bending it to Dieter’s will. Cronos is a film that displays high style while reveling in its own many mysteries.
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times