closer movie review rotten tomatoes

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

• 90 Time Richard Corliss Time Richard Corliss Funny, hurtful, splendidly acted.
• 88 Rolling Stone Peter Travers Rolling Stone Peter Travers Mike Nichols' haunting, hypnotic Closer vibrates with eroticism, bruising laughs and dynamite performances from four attractive actors doing decidedly unattractive things.
• 80 Newsweek Newsweek Here's a surprise: of the four actors in Closer, Clive Owen is the least famous, but he delivers the most memorable performance.
• 80 New York Magazine (Vulture) Ken Tucker New York Magazine (Vulture) Ken Tucker Closer is marred by some drippy music courtesy of Damien Rice and a small-surprise ending that feels like gimmicky irony. But the film's core idea is compelling.
• 80 The A.V. Club Scott Tobias The A.V. Club Scott Tobias Dramatically leaps through time, covering months or sometimes years in the span of a single cut. The effect is jarring and exhilarating, but it also bucks the common idea that relationships deepen over time.
• 80 Dallas Observer Bill Gallo Dallas Observer Bill Gallo Full of intellectual stimulation as well as low, dark pleasures--"Carnal Knowledge" redux!
• 70 Variety Todd McCarthy Variety Todd McCarthy The caustic wit and brute force of Patrick Marber's acclaimed play come across with a softened edge in Mike Nichols' bigscreen version of Closer.
• 70 Village Voice Dennis Lim Village Voice Dennis Lim Closer casts a smugly amused eye on the human capacity for betrayal. But because it also seeks to congratulate its audience for its urbane unshockability, it never strays beyond the limits of middlebrow complacency.
• 67 Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum The last thing Marber's quartet of modern miserables needs is to be admired; they are the very worst of average people, but on screen they have become the very best of the baddest.
• 50 The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt Determined to be faithful to the strong, often shocking language and in-your-face drama in Marber's mannered writing, Nichols and his actors find no way to lift Closer into a realm that enlightens.
• See all 42 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Closer

More from this title

More to explore.

Recently viewed

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Searing story of betrayal isn't for kids.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

None of the characters act very honorably.

Intense emotional confrontations, slap.

Extremely explicit sexual references and situation

Extremely strong language.

Drinking and smoking.

Parents need to know that this movie is filled with extremely adult material, with exceptionally explicit sexual references, including adultery and oral sex. There are scenes in a strip club. Characters drink, smoke, and use very strong, explicit, and graphic language. There are tense and upsetting scenes of jealousy,…

Positive Messages

Violence & scariness.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Extremely explicit sexual references and situations, strip club.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie is filled with extremely adult material, with exceptionally explicit sexual references, including adultery and oral sex. There are scenes in a strip club. Characters drink, smoke, and use very strong, explicit, and graphic language. There are tense and upsetting scenes of jealousy, anger, and betrayal. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (5)
• Kids say (2)

Based on 5 parent reviews

Good drama and somewhat black comedy in some areas, very sexual.

What's the story.

With an anguished wail, Larry (Clive Owen) asks where he can find intimacy. In a private room in a strip club, where the rules say that you can look, but not touch. The stripper's ex-boyfriend Dan (Jude Law) is now romantically involved with Larry's ex-wife, Anna (Julia Roberts). Does he really want intimacy or does he want revenge? Or does he just want the stripper to bend over and touch the floor? Probably all of the above. This is a searing story of hurt and betrayal with two couples who reach for each other in almost every combination. They may get, as in the movie's title CLOSER, but do they ever really get close? Larry is a dermatologist. Anna is a photographer. Alice (Natalie Portman) is a stripper turned waitress turned stripper again. And Dan is an obituary writer who has written a novel.

Is It Any Good?

This film is more clever than wise. Those who have been angered and betrayed by love might find it validating, but that does not make it insightful. The characters toss around the l-word a great deal, but there is no evidence that any of them even see each other, much less know or love each other. Both female characters are somewhere between a fantasy and a narrative convenience, their only function to drive the men crazy. The film's center is the relationship between the two men. Their connections with the women have more to do with the struggle between them over power and territory than with knowing or caring for Anna and Alice.

Portman is dazzling to watch. Owen and Law do well, but this is not the best use of Roberts' considerable talents; it may be that director Mike Nichols was relying more on the shock value of hearing America's sweetheart speak about oral sex in explicit terms than on her ability to convey a superficially conceived character.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what the characters were really looking for. What did playwright/screenwriter Patrick Marber want to show us with the occupations of the four characters? What do we learn from the name on Alice's passport? Were Dan and Anna using Alice by writing the novel and taking her photo?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 3, 2004
• On DVD or streaming : March 29, 2005
• Cast : Jude Law , Julia Roberts , Natalie Portman
• Director : Mike Nichols
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Sony Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : sequences of graphic sexual dialogue, nudity/sexuality and language
• Last updated : February 17, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

The Graduate

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

He's Just Not That Into You

Best high school movies, romance movies.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

The Movie Review: 'Closer'

"Flawlessly lucid"; "viciously insightful"; "quietly devastating"; "emotionally honest and psychologically dense"; "dares speak the truth about modern adult relationships." Those are a few of the phrases that were used to describe the movie Closer when it arrived in theaters late last year. Oddly, as best as I can tell, the following terms were absent from discussion of the film: "ridiculous"; "unmoored from reality"; "emotionally preposterous"; "unintentionally hilarious."

Closer , released on video today, is not a bad movie--or rather it is not merely bad. It's flamboyantly bad, bad in a way that can't help but be fascinating and even entertaining. It's well-enough executed, boasting a couple of good performances and one great one, and it's pleasant to look at. But it's also aggressively, irretrievably silly, a potty-mouthed fantasy that somehow mistakes itself for a fearless excavation of the dark recesses of the human soul, American Pie as reimagined by Neil LaBute.

Adapted by Patrick Marber from his own play, Closer follows two London couples who meet, fall in love, fall out of love, swap partners, and swap back again, in the process wounding one another in all the ways of which human beings are capable. Scratch that: The wounding is all pretty much of a single variety, specifically, being unfaithful to your (presumed) loved one and then describing the infidelity to him or her in excruciating detail. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because similar territory was plowed just a few months earlier in We Don't Live Here Anymore , a movie that shared Closer 's ludicrous belief that displaying unremitting cruelty is somehow the same thing as telling the truth. (You can read my review here .) But if the characters in the former film seemed transplanted from another decade, the characters in Closer seem transplanted from another planet. It's not just that they behave irrationally (though they do), they behave according to no recognizable set of human principles.

Take Dan, played by Jude Law. When we first meet him at the beginning of the film, he's a sweet, bespectacled, romantically timid obituary writer (think Hugh Grant in Notting Hill ) who unexpectedly falls in love with a beautiful young American named Alice (Natalie Portman) after she is hit by a car. The movie then flashes forward one year. Dan has just completed a sexually provocative novel (unmentioned in the first scene) and is being photographed for the book jacket by another beautiful American, Anna (Julia Roberts). Gone are his glasses, and with them any sign of his earlier demeanor: He's now smooth and predatory (think Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones's Diary ), putting the moves on Anna despite the fact that he now lives with Alice, who will arrive at the studio to meet him at any moment. About the only thing these two Dans have in common is Jude Law's face.

Having stolen a kiss from Anna but otherwise had his advances rebuffed (for the time being at least), Dan decides to play an unpleasant trick on her. He goes into an anonymous sex chat room on the Internet, where he encounters a deviant dermatologist named Larry (Clive Owen). Pretending to be Anna, Dan engages Larry in an X-rated dialogue and proposes a sexual assignation at a location he knows the elusive lady to frequent.

Onstage, this scene was apparently a showstopper, with Dan and Larry's raunchy exchange projected on the wall behind them. Onscreen, shorn of this gimmick, it's a strong contender for the silliest scene in a "serious" movie in the last 25 years. I'll say this once: If you are a male over the age of ten who believes that beautiful women get online to earnestly tell strange men "I love COCK" and "sit on my face, fuckboy," then you should turn your computer off right now and never turn it on again. I mean it.

Larry, having failed to receive my exceptional advice, goes to meet Anna, and finds her somewhat taken aback when he refers to her as a "cum-hungry slut." Anna, intuiting that this was all a prank set up by Dan, decides to spend the afternoon with Larry. Why? Because it's her birthday, and what better way to spend it than with a stranger about whom she knows nothing other than that he frequents pornographic websites in search of rough, anonymous sex?

In no time--literally, the film having taken another of its leaps forward--Larry and Anna are a couple, hosting a museum exhibit of her photos. Dan and Alice show up, and the former again woos Anna, whose defenses appear to be weakening. By our next temporal jump, Anna and Dan have been secret lovers for a year, though she has not allowed this detail to keep her from marrying Larry in the interim. When Dan breaks news of the affair to Alice, she cries; when Anna breaks it to Larry, he demands that she describe the flavor of Dan's ejaculate. "Like yours," she answers, "only sweeter." (Poor Julia, she never had such a filthy mouth back when she played a prostitute.)

From this point, the characters will ping-pong back and forth across the behavioral spectrum, swapping turns as villains and victims, masters and slaves. The innocent will turn out to be jaded and the jaded revealed to be innocent. I'll leave the details to the curious, except to warn of a particularly laughable scene in which Larry encounters Alice at a strip club--did I fail to mention that lovely, sweet, decent Alice is also a stripper?--to swap heartbreak stories and some more graphic sex talk. "I love everything about you that hurts," Larry confesses, moments before demanding that she drop trou, turn around, and bend over, "for my viewing pleasure."

Such ostentatious melodrama may have worked on stage, where emotional fireworks are sometimes the price of reaching people in the back rows. But the up-close medium of film requires either more subdued, realistic portrayals or an explicit admission of theatricality. What Closer needed was a director who would take it in the latter direction, recognizing that it bore no resemblance to the reality of urban romance and embracing its B-movie sleaziness. What it got instead was Mike Nichols, a director whose sense of his own cinematic daring has now outlived said daring by a few decades. Although Closer benefits from Nichols's technical command--it is inarguably a "well-made" film--it is very nearly sunk by the same self-admiring earnestness he displayed with the HBO miniseries Angels in America , another corny, out-of-date project that mistook itself for cutting edge.

That Closer manages to stay afloat, at least some of the time, is a testament to its cast. As Dan, Law digs a little deeper than he did in his dozen-odd other 2004 performances, almost finding a thread that can tie together his character's alternating recessive and assertive selves. Roberts gives a low-key, committed performance as Anna, although at times it's unclear what she's committed to . While playwright Marber makes the motivations of his male characters all too evident--varying combinations of sexual desire, sexual jealousy, sexual neediness, and sexual one-upsmanship--he seems at a loss as to why his ladies do what they do, eventually settling for the catchall explanations that Anna is a "depressive" and Alice is an impulsively self-reinventing mystery woman. (His male-centric lens is evident in a Larry line that appeared in the trailer but not the film itself: "You women don't understand the territory. Because you are the territory.")

But the great pleasure of the film, the best if not only reason to see it, is Clive Owen. He alone seems to grasp his character's fundamental ridiculousness, and he throws himself into the role with carnivorous gusto. With his big head and big hands, Owen physically dominates every scene he is in. His Larry is by turns ferocious and tender, meek and mighty, a Noble Savage for the telecommunications age. For a while now, Owen has been talked about as a possible heir to the throne of James Bond--a role in which he'd be magnificent, if only the franchise weren't some forty years removed from making films worthy of him. While Closer may not have won him an Oscar last month, his nomination was a suitable announcement of his arrival as an actor.

For all the accolades, the same cannot be said of Natalie Portman, who is the one broken link in Closer 's sexual daisy chain. The failure is not entirely her fault: Alice, like Anna, is a character whose motivations are not only largely unknown but by design unknowable, a walking argument for the inscrutability of womanhood. Moreover, it's hard to shake the impression that whoever came up with the idea of casting luminous china-doll Portman in the role of world-weary stripper has never actually seen the inside of a gentleman's club.

But Portman's disappointment extends beyond the particulars of the role. Early in her career, when she played child characters ( The Professional , Beautiful Girls ), she seemed old beyond her years. But somehow as she's graduated to adult roles she seems ever more like a child, as though she's shrinking before our eyes. (When, early in Closer , she jokingly describes herself as a "waif," the comment strikes a little too close to the mark.) Portman's tiny stature and delicate features contribute to this impression, of course, but there's more to it than that. As her star has ascended she's seemed somehow less and less touched by real life. For a while it was possible to put this off on her turn as George Lucas's child-queen. But in Closer , as in Garden State (and even her small role in Cold Mountain ), there's something disconcertingly girlish about her. She's a little too unsure of herself and eager to please, like a politician's good-girl daughter who's clever enough to recognize she's been coddled but not selfish enough to feel she deserves it. If Portman is to grow as an actress she will have to indulge herself more, forego her tentativeness and decency, and take what she wants without apology.

Closer would have been well-served had it done the same. For a movie so ardently committed to pushing the envelope, it ends rather timidly. Selfishness and deceit are punished; generosity and truthfulness are rewarded, at least relatively speaking. The final dramatic act, the slapping of a woman whom we imagine has been slapped before, is treated as a shocking, unforgivable transgression--this, by a film that has spent the previous 90 minutes engineering vicious sexual betrayals and congratulating itself on its bleak vision of the world. At Anna's photography opening, Alice describes the pictures as "a lie ... a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully." Closer is that, and less: a lie that in the end doesn't even have the conviction of its own malice.

The Home Movies List: Cruel Endings

The Third Man (1949). The last scene--the empty road, the falling leaves,     Joseph Cotton leaning against a fence as Alida Valli walks past--is among     the most bleakly beautiful of all time. Incredibly, in Graham Greene's     original script, it played the other way, with Valli taking Cotton's arm.     Thank goodness director Carol Reed had the sense to see that this story     couldn't possibly end happily.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Have the story and the telling     ever been more wonderfully at odds than in Jacques Demy's      masterpiece , a jaded humanist fable filled with color and music? Like     Reed, Demy was wise enough to know that the ending audiences     wanted was not one he could give them.

Get Carter (1971). A lean, vicious little film starring Michael Caine as a     hoodlum who seeks vengeance for his brother's death and finds a great     deal of it. Intoxicatingly unpleasant.

Silence of the Lambs (1991). Unique in this list, in that the filmmakers     seemed oddly oblivious to the bitterness of its conclusion. After all the     earnest urgency with which Clarice Starling sought Buffalo Bill, we're     meant to think it funny at the end that a far more frightening monster     has escaped.

The Last Seduction (1994). Crueler even than the ending of the film is     that Linda Fiorentino--who must have known, even then, that this was     the role of her lifetime--was deemed ineligible for Oscar consideration     thanks to the film's debut on HBO.

This post originally appeared at TNR.com

When you purchase through Movies Anywhere , we bring your favorite movies from your connected digital retailers together into one synced collection.   Join Now

Closer | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

• See Retailers

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

'People are filthy, they're not worth lifting a finger for.' Closer conveys this sentiment more powerfully than anything else.

Clive Owen gives the deepest and most emotionally nuanced performance as a dermatologist desperate for love and loyalty, and Natalie Portman is a close second as the coy stripper beholden to Jude Law's self-centered, stalled writer.

Closer's world is a gentle one, a place of kindness. It is these people who are bringing spite into it.

Each frame of the film seems infused with vibrant life, even when the tone switches from dark to darker.

For all its stunt casting and knee-jerk sexual frankness, Closer gives an underlying resonance to an emotional world that is normally the preserve of glossy soap operas.

Closer takes the traditional notion of romance and attempts to batter it into submission, mostly through the constant application of swear words.

The heart isn't a fist any more than the hand is a foot, and anyway there's no fist so tight that doesn't unfold into an open hand sometime. The movie is like a comedy someone dipped in a solvent.

Searing story of betrayal isn't for kids.

Closer is no joke and it's got the brave, mature performances of an all-star cast to prove it. It's a movie in which characters feel each other up with their hands and knock each other down with words.

With a better script, Closer could have been compelling romantic drama; instead, it's little more than clichéd nonsense.

Additional Info

• Genre : Drama
• Release Date : December 3, 2004
• Languages : English
• Captions : English
• Audio Format : 5.1

You Might Also Like...

New Releases

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors.

Now streaming on:

Noomi Rapace is the stoic center of "Close," a down-and-dirty thriller about bodyguards trying to prevent kidnappers from abducting an heiress. From the opening set piece showing Rapace's character, a private security expert named Sam, protecting journalists against rifle-wielding soldiers, to its many scenes of the character thwarting would-be killers with guns, fists, feet, and the knife strapped to her boot, it's clear that cowriter-director Vicky Jewson has conceived this project in the spirit of a no-nonsense, female-led bone-cruncher like " Haywire " or " Atomic Blonde "—movies whose heroines would drive cross-country alongside an crusty old  Clint Eastwood character without a word passing between them, then tell friends it was the best vacation they ever had. 

And then the movie decides to "humanize" her in the most obvious way possible, and suddenly it becomes less special. You'll know the moment when you see it. It doesn't merely answer a question you never would have asked in a film about a similarly strong-silent male character; it lifts the veil of mystery that made Sam so fascinating. There's nothing fresh about the story, which is essentially " Man on Fire " remade as "Woman on Fire." But there almost never is in action pictures. The genre is mainly about the director's visual style, the fights and stunts, and the performers' attitudes. "Close" is strong on all counts, until it seems to lose its nerve and decides to explain a character who—as written by Jewson and Rupert Whitaker , and as performed by Rapace—was more compelling when the film let her be a lethal question mark. 

Despite that strategic misstep, this is a tight, tough film that gets right into the thriller part of the story and somehow manages to feel plausible even when Sam is mowing down foe after foe. The filmmaking splits the difference between Jason Bourne-style Cuisinart editing and the kind of lean stillness that you'll find in a fat-free Yakuza thriller like " Sonatine "—the kind where violence seems to erupt out of nowhere, and the hero survives by keeping his cool even as he's maiming and killing and setting things on fire. The director and her cinematographer, Malte Rosenfeld , see the geographical beauty in the landscapes that Sam and Zoe pass through, but they never linger on it. This choice feels right for a movie about a woman who enters each new space wondering where the exits are, and noting which ordinary household objects could be used as weapons. 

From the minute the opening sequence ends and the film whisks us back to the first meeting between Sam and her client Zoe ( Sophie Nelisse ), Rapace holds the screen simply by appearing on it. This actress is no stranger to intensely physical roles; this is clearly one of the most demanding, but neither Rapace nor the movie make the character's prowess seem like anything other than the byproduct of good training and discipline. Sam is loosely based on bodyguard  Jacquie Davis, whose high-profile clients include Nicole Kidman , J.K. Rowling, and the British royal family. Davis is an expert in surveillance and rescue operations, skills that come into play here, along with the ability to stab a man with your right hand while using your left to blind a second man with wasp spray.

When Sam starts guarding Zoe, she still has multiple, freshly-healed cuts on her face from the opening firefight, a touch that speaks to both the movie's (and the actress') disinterest in glamour. The script deftly defines her relationship with the teenager, a spoiled and depressed Paris Hilton-esque rich girl. She's still mourning the sudden death of her father, the CEO of the Hassine Mining Company, and hating her stepmother ( Indira Varma ), whose family started the company. Nobody around Zoe seems happy that she's suddenly become the majority stockholder in the company at a time when a Chinese rival was looking to merge with them. Situations like that tend to get resolved in stories like this via kidnapping, perhaps murder. 

"You're not my mom," Zoe exclaims early in the movie, after Sam physically intervenes to prevent her from going home with a handsome young man grinding with her on a dance floor. Of course, by the end Sam kind of is her mom—that's how films like this work, and it's how we usually want them to work—but it's all about how you get there. "Close" is aces when it's watching its star move through the world, silently checking everyone and everything out, hiding her mental math until it's time to kill some dudes. The action is frenzied but comprehensible, brutal but not wantonly sadistic. It loses a little something when it decides to explain her, but the character and the performance remain fascinating, and the bones never stop snapping. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

Now playing

You'll Never Find Me

Sheila o'malley.

Turtles All the Way Down

Peyton robinson.

The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

In the Land of Saints and Sinners

Brian tallerico.

Film Credits

Close (2019)

Noomi Rapace as Sam

Sophie Nélisse as Zoe

Eoin Macken as Conall

George Georgiou as Nabil

Akin Gazi as Alik

Christopher Sciueref as The Suit

Sargon Yelda as Anas

• Vicky Jewson
• Rupert Whitaker

Cinematographer

• Malte Rosenfeld
• Richard Smither
• Marc Canham

Latest blog posts

Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather: A Preview of NYC's Upcoming Hiroshi Shimizu Retrospective

AMC's Interview with the Vampire Has a Different Flavor in Season Two

Female Filmmakers in Focus: Marija Kavtaradzė on Slow

It's Time To Give a FECK: Book Tour Dates Announced

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Movie Reviews

• LISTEN & FOLLOW
• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Amazon Music

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

If you had a particularly 'Close' childhood friendship, this film will resonate

Justin Chang

Rémi (Gustav De Waele) and Léo (Eden Dambrine) are childhood friends who begin to pull apart from each other in the Belgian film Close . Lukas Dhont/Kris Dewitte Menuet hide caption

Rémi (Gustav De Waele) and Léo (Eden Dambrine) are childhood friends who begin to pull apart from each other in the Belgian film Close .

At last year's Cannes Film Festival , the Belgian movie Close so reduced audiences to tears that many of us were convinced we had the next winner of the Palme d'Or — the festival's top prize — on our hands. And it did come close, so to speak: It wound up winning the Grand Prix, or second place. That's a testament to the movie's real emotional power, and while it left me misty-eyed rather than full-on sobbing, it will resonate with anyone who remembers the special intensity of their childhood friendships, the ones that felt like they would last forever.

The friendship in Close is between two inseparable 13-year-old boys, Léo and Rémi, who've grown up in neighboring families in the Belgian countryside. Léo's parents run a flower farm, and the two boys spend a lot of their time playing outdoors, running and riding their bikes joyously past bright blooming fields, which the director Lukas Dhont films as if they were the Garden of Eden.

An adolescent friendship fractures in the Belgian Oscar hopeful, 'Close'

The boys have an intensely physical bond, whether taking naps together in the grass or sharing a bed during their many sleepovers. Again and again, Dhont presents us with casual images of boyhood tenderness. He leaves open the question of whether Léo and Rémi are going through an especially close phase of their friendship, or if they might be experiencing some early stirrings of sexual desire. Either way, Dhont seems to be saying, they deserve the time and space to figure it out.

Happily, they don't get any judgment from their families, who have always been supportive of their friendship — especially Rémi's mother, played by the luminous Émilie Dequenne. But when they return to school after a long, glorious summer together, Léo and Rémi are teased and even bullied about their friendship.

After seeing Léo rest his head on Rémi's shoulder, a girl asks them if they're "together," like a couple. A boy attacks Léo with a homophobic slur. While Rémi doesn't seem too affected by any of this, Léo suddenly turns self-conscious and embarrassed. And gradually he begins to pull away from Rémi, avoiding his hugs, ignoring him and hanging out with other kids. Léo also joins an ice hockey team — partly to make new friends, but also partly, you suspect, to conform to an acceptable masculine ideal.

Léo is played by Eden Dambrine, and Rémi by Gustav De Waele. They give two of the best, least affected child performances I've seen in some time, especially from Dambrine as Léo, who's the movie's main character. He registers every beat of Léo's emotional progression — the initial shame, followed by guilt and regret — almost entirely through facial expressions and body language, rather than dialogue. Close gets how hard it can be for children, especially boys, to understand their emotions, let alone talk about them. As Léo and Rémi are pulled apart, they don't have the words to express their loss and confusion.

'Girl': Belgian Drama About A Young Trans Ballet Student Is On Point

Dhont has a real feel for the dynamics of loving families and a deep understanding of how cruel children can be — themes that were also evident in Girl , his controversial debut feature about a transgender teenager. He's clearly interested in and sympathetic to the complicated inner lives of his young characters.

But something about Close kept me at a distance. That's mainly due to a fateful narrative development about halfway through the movie that I won't give away. It's a plausible enough twist that Dhont tries to handle as delicately as possible, but it also feels like an easy way out. The admirable restraint of Dhont's filmmaking begins to feel fussy and coy, as if he were torn between trying to tell an emotionally honest story and going straight for the jugular. After a while, even the gorgeous pastoral scenery — the umpteenth reminder of the boys' lost innocence — begins to ring hollow. There's no denying that Close is a beautiful movie. But its beauty can feel like an evasion, an escape from the uglier, messier aspects of love and loss.

Advertisement

Supported by

‘Close’ Review: This Boy’s Life

Friendship and tragedy go hand in hand in Lukas Dhont’s delicate, Oscar-nominated drama.

• Share full article

By A.O. Scott

“Close” begins in an idyll of childhood friendship, with two boys at play — running through fields of flowers, riding bicycles and inventing games, inexhaustibly happy in each other’s company. To say that Léo (Eden Dambrine) and Rémi (Gustav De Waele), who live in a rural area in the French-speaking part of Belgium, are inseparable would be to risk understatement. They’re like a single organism, a tangle of growing limbs and lazy daydreams.

It seems inevitable — though of course not to them — that their bliss will not last. The Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s film, a nominee for this year’s best international film Oscar , tracks the changes in Léo and Rémi’s relationship from summer vacation through the school year. The boys, in the early throes of adolescence, face new feelings and social pressures. Before, it wasn’t necessary to define or defend their relationship, but now it has come under scrutiny in an atmosphere of casual homophobia and the enforcement, both subtle and crude, of gender norms and expectations.

Soccer matches are punctuated by slurs. A posse of mean girls in the cafeteria wants to know if Léo and Rémi are a couple. Léo is quick to answer no, which may be the first sign of a rift. The love between him and Rémi is self-evident, but they are entering a phase of confusion about what it might mean. Léo starts socializing with other boys, and takes up ice hockey. Later, he will acknowledge that he pushed Rémi away, but in the moment he’s preoccupied, like a surfer, with keeping his balance on what feels like a treacherous and challenging wave. He can’t see — or chooses to ignore — how much he is hurting his friend.

That understanding comes too late. A tragedy occurs in the middle of “Close” — something a viewer might have dreaded and hoped was not coming — that splits the movie in two. What had been a delicate, beautifully modulated examination of intimacy becomes a study in grief.

Which is to say a blunter, more conventional story. The narrative beats — moments of rueful humor, suppressed anguish and cathartic weeping — arise in predictable sequence. The external world is mined for metaphors to match the inner lives of the characters. Léo’s parents work on a flower farm. Rémi’s mother (Émilie Dequenne) is on the staff of a maternity hospital, and Dhont is not averse to exploiting the symbolic potential of those jobs. The cycle of seasonal weather from one summer to the next aligns a bit too neatly with the emotional weather of the plot, as if pain and healing were agricultural processes.

Still, the roteness of the film’s second half — reinforced by Valentin Hadjadj’s over-insistent score — can’t dispel the exquisite insight of its earlier scenes or the heart-rending precision of the performances. Dambrine and De Waele are wonderfully natural, conveying the complexities of youthful experience with impressive directness and poise. Dambrine, who carries a heavier burden, never falters, and is well supported by Dequenne and Léa Drucker (who plays Leo’s mother). The world they inhabit is fleshed out with unassuming, sensitive realism, even when the story falters.

Close Rated PG-13. Intense emotional distress. In Dutch, French and Flemish, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.

A.O. Scott is a co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell speak about how “Anyone but You” beat the rom-com odds. Here are their takeaways after the film , debuting on Netflix, went from box office miss to runaway hit.

The vampire ballerina in the new movie “Abigail” has a long pop culture lineage . She and her sisters are obsessed, tormented and likely to cause harm.

In a joint interview, the actors Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough discuss “Under the Bridge,” their new true-crime series  based on a teenager’s brutal killing in British Columbia.

The movie “Civil War” has tapped into a dark set of national angst . In polls and in interviews, a segment of voters say they fear the country’s divides may lead to actual, not just rhetorical, battles.

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Close review – a heartbreaking tale of boyhood friendship turned sour

When two 13-year-olds are no longer close, the fallout is unbearably sad, in Lukas Dhont’s anguished second feature

B elgian film-maker Lukas Dhont found praise and then a backlash of criticism in 2018 for his debut feature, Girl , the story of a young transgender woman auditioning for ballet school, which some found to be inauthentic, and an unwarranted fetishisation of a trans person’s body. It could well be that he will get more criticism for this new film on the grounds that the unselfconscious love and friendship between two 13-year-old boys is being catastrophised and problematised.

I admit there are times when Dhont goes straight for the deafening minor chords of anguish. But there are two excellent performances from newcomers Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine as Rémi and Léo, and also valuable appearances from the actors playing their mothers: Sophie (Émilie Dequenne – iconic for the lead in the Dardennes’ 1999 Palme winner Rosetta , when she was hardly older than the boys are now) and Nathalie (Léa Drucker). Rémi and Léo are inseparable, hanging out and playing together all the time: physical, tactile, joyful and innocent, but certainly far more intense than most 13-year-old friends. Léo is especially close to Rémi’s mum and is physically at ease with her. He particularly admires Rémi’s musical talent – he plays the oboe. Schoolmates suddenly become aware of the intensity of their friendship. Girls – who are perhaps honest, or perhaps malicious, or just somewhere between the two – ask Léo if he and Rémi are a couple. With malign, ersatz sophistication, they ask if Léo even “realises” it.

Soon the boys are starting to make mean remarks to Léo, who is angry, scared and humiliated. He withdraws from Rémi, blanks him in the playground, goes in for macho ice hockey. Rémi is deeply baffled and wounded; Léo can hardly bear Rémi’s mute and then not-mute reproach, and with being confronted with his own fickle dishonesty. The story of Close is disturbing because, however wised-up teenagers probably are now about the language of relationships and LGBT issues, compared to the relative naivety of maybe 10 years ago, the breakup of an intense friendship is shocking. There is still none of the adult life experience to explain it away, and the end of a friendship is devastating in the way a romantic relationship isn’t. For Rémi, Léo’s sudden decision to break up with him has the same effect as his mother deciding to put him up for adoption, or the sun not coming up in the morning. It is a violent, unspeakably painful rupture that Rémi does not have the language to explain to himself. He is perhaps mature in ways that Léo is not. Perhaps he is outraged at what amounts to a disloyal capitulation to homophobia, or perhaps it is not a question of being mature: he is just upset, or more than upset. There’s no doubting the force of this drenchingly sad story.

• Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
• Cannes 2022
• Cannes film festival
• Drama films
• LGBTQ+ rights

Most viewed

Best sci-fi movies with 90%+ on Rotten Tomatoes

Here are the top 15 sci-fi movies boasting over 90% scores on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and audiences alike.

Backwards Faces

Quantum cowboys, a trip to the moon, beyond the infinite two minutes, they cloned tyrone, star wars: episode v - the empire strikes back, star wars: episode iv - a new hope, back to the future, dune: part two, terminator 2: judgment day.

It is certainly no mean feat to achieve a Rotten Tomatoes score above 90% from both the critics and the audience members. In fact, when it comes to the sci-fi genre in particular, there’s tough competition and even tougher opinions on the different approaches and themes that are dreamt up and tackled on the big screen. 

You may wonder what tales of dystopia, space, time hopping, and otherworldly beings can secure such a rating across the board. Luckily, you’re in the right place to find out. We’ve a list full of exactly that set on a backdrop of adventure and spanning a real expanse of time, from the 1900s to the present day. Proving, well and truly, that age is just a number. 

There are the best sci-fi movies of all time to explore too, of course, and while there’s some crossover from our list, you’ll be surprised by the difference. RT allows the public eye to review these titles with scrutiny and, in turn, awe. So, let’s jump into the 15 best sci-fi movies. 

If you're looking for something to watch and the entries in this guide are what you like, you should check out our guides for the best sci-fi movies and TV shows to stream on Disney Plus , Netflix , Amazon Prime and Paramount Plus .

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 100% / Audience 98% 
• Release date: December 4, 2022 
• Cast: Lennon Sickles, Andrew Morra 
• Stream on: Amazon Prime (US/UK); Tubi (Aus) 

In the 100% club and the frontrunner on Rotten Tomatoes, 2022's Backwards Faces is an indie sci-fi flick tackling the multiverse in a unique way and with adoring fans. At just over an hour long, the story unfolds with just two actors throughout; Lennon Sickels as Sydney and Andrew Morra as Ken. 

After a one-night stand, theoretical physics student Sydney is far too intrigued to walk out the door once she learns Ken claims to be from an alternate universe. Complex in its theme, much like any sci-fi tale, it tackles it with a lighthearted humor that balances it out prompting its RT score. It's an indie though, so the critic and audience reviews are far less than the bigger titles on our list. But, they still generate an extremely positive response across the board.

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 100% / Audience 93% 
• Release date: June 13, 2022 
• Cast: Kiowa Gordon, Lily Gladstone, John Way 
• Stream on: Crunchyroll (US/UK); not available in Aus 

Bet you didn't think you'd be rambling through 1870s Southern Arizona on horseback on a list full of science fiction, but here we are. Quantum Cowboys is the tale of two drifters, Frank (Kiowa Gordon) and Bruno (John Way) as they help Linde (Lily Gladstone) on her quest to regain her land and an elusive musician.

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Traversing landscapes, genres, and formats, this sci-fi Western is full of psychedelic animation sprinkled with live-action scenes. Prompting The Curb to call it a "mind bender that will have you on the edge of sensory overload." 

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 100% / Audience 90% 
• Release date: September 1, 1902 
• Cast: Georges Méliès, Victor André 
• Stream on: HBO Max (US); Amazon Prime (UK); Mubi (Aus) 

Widely considered to be the first sci-fi film ever created, A Trip to the Moon was created by French magician, actor, and director Georges Méliès. Despite its 1902 release date, it still stands strong as a true inspiration for films that have followed. 

This movie was inspired by a novel by famed author Jules Verne. If you've got an interest in the sci-fi genre, consider this movie an important piece of its history. As the title suggests, it's a trip to the moon. And, the space capsule on which they travel into the galaxy stands strong as an iconic image of the sci-fi genre when silent film was at the fore.

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 99% / Audience 90% 
• Release date: June 5, 2020 
• Cast: Kazunari Tosa, Riko Fujitani, Gôta Ishida 
• Stream on: Apple TV/Amazon Prime (US/UK); not available in Aus 

What would you do if you could predict the future… by two minutes? Cafe owner, Kato, discovers that the TV in his establishment shows him this very thing. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is joyous sci-fi filmed on just an iPhone in a single location during the midst of the pandemic.

With an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score from critics at 99%, the National Post describes Yamaguchi's work as "an intricate and supremely enjoyable puzzle-box of a story, bursting with charm and momentum in equal measure." 

•   Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 98% / Audience 94% 
•   Release date: August 29, 1986 
•   Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn 
•   Stream on: HBO Max (US); Disney Plus (UK/Aus) 

Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returns to the Aliens franchise after surviving her first run-in aboard the Nostromo. As a direct sequel and with her previous successful escape, Ellen is called upon once again to make contact with aliens after communications with a human colony on the Moon go cold.

Aliens is the second title in the popular franchise (that boasts eight in total with another on the way), but it rates a little higher from critics with an impressive 98% RT score. Released seven years after the first, James Cameron took over directing from Ridley Scott, and he took on the writing too. We'll discuss Alien later on in our list.

•   Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 97% / Audience 92%
•    Release date: September 26, 1927 
•   Cast: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich  
•   Stream on: Fubo TV/hoopla (US); BFI Player (UK); Tubi/Plex (Aus) 

Fritz Lang's Metropolis explores a city of the future with a class divide that threatens to crumble the entire civilization. The wealthy on top and laborers underground is a structure that slowly unravels as themes of political lopsidedness and dystopian fantasy seep through the 2-hour and 33-minute runtime.

In 1927, a foray into the sci-fi genre was progressive, even 25 years after A Trip to the Moon, and its execution back then has made it a firm favorite. Lauded for its ability to make an entirely silent movie about science incredibly compelling, it led critics such as the New York Daily News to call it, "drop-dead stunning".

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics 95% / Audience 100%
• Release date: June 14, 2023 
• Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx
• Stream on: Netflix (US/UK/Aus)

Trio, Fontaine, Yo-Yo, and Slick Charles are thrust together by weird events that suggest there's a government conspiracy that needs disclosing. They may first meet in less-than-legal circumstances, but what they're about to unravel is a hell of a lot worse.  

Streaming giant, Netflix, is no stranger to crafting sci-fi originals and in 2023, They Cloned Tyrone dropped to rapturous applause. The only 100% audience score featured on our list, it has prompted viewers to say this movie "blew my mind" and that it’s "super dark but super funny".

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 95% / Audience 97% 
• Release date: May 20, 1980 
• Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher 

Watching the Star Wars movies in order is a much-debated and still ongoing conversation. If you opt for their release dates though, here’s the second title you'll end up with. And, according to its RT score, the best. 

Darth Vader is in hot pursuit of Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie. But, with Luke off to begin his training with Yoda on Dagobah, Darth targets his Rebel friends while they try to enlist help from Lando Calrissian in Cloud City. Luke must act quickly to help save them, and in turn, ends up in an iconic battle against Darth Vader that becomes one of Star Wars' most famous scenes.

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics: 95% / Audience 90%
• Release Date: June 27, 2008
• Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin
• Stream on: Disney Plus (US/UK/Aus)

Disney Pixar, pre-2008, had only toyed with the sci-fi genre through superhero toy Buzz Lightyear and actual superhero family, The Incredibles. So, when Wall-E came out, set entirely in space, animated fans and sci-fi fans alike rejoiced. 

Wall-E is a pleasant little robot tasked solely with collecting rubbish on an abandoned and uninhabitable Earth, compacting said rubbish, and producing it into lovely neat cubes. That is, until he stumbles upon the no-nonsense robot, EVE, who prompts him to embark on an epic adventure to discover the future of humanity.

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 94% / Audience 91% 
• Release date: May 8, 2009 
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg
• Stream on: Paramount Plus (US/UK/Aus) 

2009's Star Trek marked the 11th movie in the franchise and a reboot of the original Star Trek TV series, although with an entirely new cast. In the titular roles, there's Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, embarking on their first-ever mission on the Enterprise. 

There are epic space battles and a mighty villain, Nero, as portrayed by Eric Bana to enjoy as the franchise is reinvigorated once again. The Star Trek franchise lives vastly on Paramount Plus , so it can be enjoyed on the streaming giant alongside some of the best sci-fi movies and TV shows around.  

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 93% / Audience 96% 
• Release date: December 27, 1977 

With a slightly lower, but still vastly impressive RT score, there’s Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. It’s the first in the original trilogy and is truly the film that started it all. It’s Luke Skywalker’s first foray into adventure, the assembly of his crew and the maiden flight of said crew aboard the Millennium Falcon.

It’s space skirmishes of gargantuan proportions and a rescue mission that critics on RT, such as Boston Globe , applaud for being a "rare experience for both adults and kids that shortchanges neither." 

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 93% / Audience 95% 
• Release date: December 4, 1985 
• Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson 
• Stream on: Apple TV/Amazon Prime (US/UK); BINGE/Paramount Plus (Aus) 

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is thrown into a time-traveling adventure when he becomes friends with the wonderfully strange scientist, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). What follows is a movie full of weird and whimsical fun as Marty accidentally travels back 30 years in time, and all by speeding in the flux capacitor-fitted DeLorean.

Despite being almost 30 years old, Back to the Future made a lot of predictions that still spark a lot of conversation today. We're talking drones, fingerprint technology, smart clothing, and… the famous hoverboard.

• Release date: March 1, 2024 
• Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson 
• Stream on: N/A

Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is at war. Following the unraveling events of 2021's Dune, a sci-fi epic based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name, there's a lot more story to tell and Dune: Part Two steps up to the plate. Paul must unite with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to enact revenge, while also balancing the very future of the universe in his hands.

The title has picked up a very impressive Rotten Tomatoes score and, despite being the sequel, impresses critics and audiences alike for picking up where the first movie built its empire. The Observer , for just one review, calls it "jaw-on-the-floor spectacular".  

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 93% / Audience 94% 
• Release date: September 6, 1979 
• Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt 
• Stream on: Apple TV (US); Disney Plus (UK/Aus) 

As we've already mentioned, Aliens scraped a slightly better RT score than this, the original and first movie of the Alien franchise. Yet, it's still a wildly impressive score. Alien is where it all began. Director Ridley Scott at the helm telling the sci-fi horror tale of the commercial spaceship, Nostromo.

Sigourney Weaver in the titular role as Warrant Officer Ripley and the rest of the crew embark on a strange and ultimately deadly journey after investigating an unknown transmission. Creatures begin to emerge on their ship and there's nowhere to hide when outside is the vast expanse of the universe. 

• Rotten Tomatoes score: Critics 91% / Audience 95% 
• Release date: August 16, 1991 
• Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong 
• Stream on: Paramount Plus (US); Amazon Prime (UK/Aus) 

Finally, as Aliens is to Alien, the second Terminator movie is arguably the better one. Rotten Tomatoes agree, and so did we when we ranked The Terminator movies from worst to best. It's an unusual and wildly different sequel to the first. Set 11 years after the events of the original movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the famed T-800 is back and better than ever. 

While in the first he was set to destroy a Connor, in Judgment Day, he must protect. And Rotten Tomatoes critics laud it for its massive explosions, stuns, and entertainment factor.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Grace is a freelancer who started writing for Space.com since 2021. She's a huge fan of movies, TV, and gaming, and if she's not clutching her Xbox controller or scanning the streaming platforms for the next must-watch shows, you'll find her spending copious amounts of time writing about them on her laptop. Specialties include RPG, FPS, and action-adventure games as well as 80s sci-fi movies and book adaptations. 

'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 6 goes old school and benefits because of it

'Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi' and 'Andor' blast onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray today

Some planets 'death spiral' into their stars and scientists may now know why

Most Popular

• 2 AI discovers over 27,000 overlooked asteroids in old telescope images
• 3 'Star Trek: Discovery' season 5 episode 6 goes old school and benefits because of it
• 4 May the deals be with you in the Lego Star Wars Day 2024 sale
• 5 SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching 2 satellites on record-tying 20th flight today

Screen Rant

Anne hathaway just earned one of her best rotten tomatoes scores ever.

Anne Hathaway's new Prime Video movie earns the Princess Diaries and Devil Wears Prada star one of her best Rotten Tomatoes scores ever.

• Anne Hathaway's new movie The Idea of You earned a Certified Fresh score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
• The movie has earned the star her best Rotten Tomatoes score in five years and tied for her second best score ever.
• Despite her career being dominated by low Rotten Tomatoes scores, Hathaway has had major successes as well.

The Idea of You has earned Anne Hathaway one of her best Rotten Tomatoes scores ever. The Harry Styles-inspired romance movie , which is based on Robinne Lee's novel of the same name, stars Hathaway as single mother Solène Marchand, who stumbles into a whirlwind romance with boy band superstar Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine). The ensemble cast of the movie also includes Ella Rubin, Reid Scott, Jordan Aaron Hall, Jaiden Anthony, Raymond Cham Jr, Annie Mumolo, and Perry Mattfeld.

Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated an official score for the Anne Hathaway age-gap romance after its Prime Video premiere. With 59 critics weighing in, The Idea of You has earned a Certified Fresh score of 88% , marking the star's best score in five years since 2019's Dark Waters (89%). The score also marks star's second-best Rotten Tomatoes result of all time, tied with the 88% critic scores for Brokeback Mountain and 2002's The Cat Returns (in which she provided a voice for the English dub).

Anne Hathaway's Rotten Tomatoes History Explained

The idea of you is something of an outlier in a career with many rotten titles.

Anne Hathaway is a generally well-regarded actor by the Hollywood establishment, having been nominated for two Oscars and winning one for her portrayal of Fantine in the 2012 musical Les Misérables . However, her career is dominated by Rotten Tomatoes splats . So far, movies starring Hathaway have earned 26 Rotten scores and 15 Fresh scores, not counting the 2013 documentary Girl Rising (80%), for which she was the narrator. Below, see every Hathaway movie that has earned more than 80% on the review aggregator platform:

While the Idea of You star has triumphed with her new romance title, generally her rom-coms such as Valentine's Day (18%), Bride Wars (10%), and Love & Other Drugs (49%) have been poorly received by critics. The same is true for franchise and family movies including The Princess Diaries (49%), The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (26%), Alice Through the Looking Glass (29%), and Ella Enchanted (51%). Additionally, her lowest scores ever belong to the thriller The Last Thing He Wanted (5%) and the dramedy Don Peyote (7%).

While Hathaway has had patches of her career where her movies have struggled to connect with critics, audiences don't always agree. They have given Fresh audience scores to several of her Rotten movies including The Princess Diaries , The Intern , Becoming Jane , and Get Smart . It remains to be seen how The Idea of You performs with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, but if they agree with critics' assessment, the movie could usher in a new era of success for the star, whose upcoming projects include the Michaela Coel melodrama Mother Mary and the David Robert Mitchell sci-fi movie Flowervale Street .

Click here to watch The Idea of You on Prime Video

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

The Idea of You (2024)

Stephen King hypes up new spider horror movie with great Rotten Tomatoes score

If King is a fan, so are we

Shudder’s newest horror movie Infested has been reaping the love since its release and has even caught the attention of legendary author Stephen King, who shared his appreciation for the spider movie the best way he knows how. 

In true King fashion, the writer took to Twitter , as he often does, to share his views on the French flick, summing it up quite nicely with: "Spiders, some as big as puppies, overrun a French apartment building," before praising the movie "Scary, gross, well made." One fan replied , "Yikes! Spiders. Definitely not a movie for the faint of heart," another added , "Not sure about something that makes Stephen King shudder." See the full tweet below. 

INFESTED (Shudder): Spiders, some as big as puppies, overrun a French apartment building. Scary, gross, well made. (French, with English subtitles) May 1, 2024

Directed by Mayday’s Sébastien Vaniček, Infested follows a lonely and stressed-out man named Kaleb on the brink of his 30th birthday, when he decides to buy a venomous spider and bring it back to his apartment for company. But it's not long until the arachnid breaks out and reproduces at an alarming rate, turning the apartment building into a death trap and every arachnophobia sufferer's worst nightmare. In an Evil Dead Rise -type situation, Kaleb and his friends must find a way out and survive. 

The film, which dropped on Shudder on April 26, has been reeling in positive reviews, earning it a rather impressive 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes . "Maybe you’ve experienced the side effects of spider cinema before, but you’ve never suffered them as thoroughly imagined as this spin on a classic fear factor," said Alison Foreman from IndieWire . Meanwhile Dennis Harvey from Variety called it a "resourceful, energetic, stylish and good-humored creature feature with above-average human character interest."

Infested stars Théo Christine, Sofia Lesaffre, Jérôme Niel, Lisa Nyarko, and Finnegan Oldfield. 

Infested is available to stream on Shudder right now. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies or keep up to date with upcoming horror movies heading your way this year.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.  

Mike Flanagan to produce supernatural horror movie from popular film YouTuber about missing paranormal investigator

Star Wars star and Ahsoka's best villain scores lead role in M3GAN 2

I use Razer’s in-ear gaming monitors every day, and they’re now cheaper than ever

Most Popular

• 2 Stellar Blade review: "A good action-RPG that I enjoyed a lot despite several issues"
• 3 Manor Lords review: "Brimming with the potential to exceed its already broad horizons"
• 4 Medici board game review: "Friendly competition"
• 5 Arborea review: "Fascinating interplay"
• 2 The Fall Guy review: "A snappy, sharp, sexy screwball action romance"
• 3 Boy Kills World review: "A gleefully bonkers blend of The Hunger Games and The Raid"
• 4 Rebel Moon Part Two – The Scargiver review: "Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic stumbles towards the finish line"
• 5 Abigail review: "A blood-bomb of fun that needs more narrative meat"
• 2 Dead Boy Detectives review: "Delightfully dark, deeply moving, and the perfect companion to The Sandman"
• 3 X-Men ’97 episode 7 review: "Season one has finally hit a lull"
• 4 Knuckles review: "A confident trial run for Sonic 3"
• 5 Alien RPG Building Better Worlds review: "Carrying on the quiet momentum of one of the best TTRPGs out there"

30 Highest Rated Movies of all Time: Movies With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

For 23 years, Rotten Tomatoes has been the go-to for those looking to get the scoop on what is new in movies. Aggregating opinions from fans and critics across the country, Rotten Tomatoes uses its “Tomatometer” system to calculate critical reception for any given film. If 60% of reviews are positive, the movie is given a “Fresh” status, but if positive reviews fall below that benchmark, it is deemed “Rotten.” A popular piece of media will typically fall between the 70-90% range, but rarely, a project will receive a 100% score. This means every last review from critics was positive.

Close to 480 films with at least 20 reviews have achieved a 100% score, with many coming very close. Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” had a 100% rating with 196 positive reviews before a critic submitted a negative one, knocking it down to 99%. The immortal classic “Citizen Kane” had a 100% rating until a negative review from a 1941 issue of the Chicago Tribune was rediscovered, revoking its 100% status.

Here are Rotten Tomatoes’ highest-rated movies that have managed to maintain a 100% score and have the highest number of reviews.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

“The Philadelphia Story” is based on the 1939 Broadway play and follows a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. Directed by George Cukor, he film stars Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey.

“It’s definitely not a celluloid adventure for wee lads and lassies and no doubt some of the faithful watchers-out for other people’s souls are going to have a word about that,” Variety ‘s review said. “…All of which, in addition to a generous taste of socialite quaffing to excess and talk of virtue, easy and uneasy, makes “The Philadelphia Story” a picture every suburban mamma and poppa must see – after Junior and little Elsie Dinsmore are tucked away.”

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Christmas musical film “Meet Me in St. Louis” follows a year of the Smith family’s life in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, in the spring of 1904. The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll and directed by Vincente Minnelli, who Garland later married.

“‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ is wholesome in story [from the book by Sally Benson], colorful both in background and its literal Technicolor, and as American as the World’s Series,” Variety ‘s review said. “Garland achieves true stature with her deeply understanding performance, while her sisterly running-mate, Lucille Bremer, likewise makes excellent impact with a well-balanced performance.”

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

The musical romantic comedy “Singin’ In the Rain” follows three Hollywood stars in the late 1920s dealing with the transition from silent films to talkies. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, the movie was one of the first 25 films selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

“‘Singin’ In the Rain’ is a fancy package of musical entertainment with wide appeal and bright grossing prospects,” Variety ‘s review said. “Concocted by Arthur Freed with showmanship know-how, it glitters with color, talent and tunes, and an infectious air that will click with ticket buyers in all types of situations.”

Seven Samurai (1954)

Epic samurai action film “Seven Samurai” follows the story of a village of farmers in 1586 who seek to hire samurai to protect their crops from thieves. The film was the most expensive movie made in Japan at the time.

“Director Akira Kurosawa has given this a virile mounting,” Variety ‘s review said. “It is primarily a man’s film, with the brief romantic interludes also done with taste. Each character is firmly molded. Toshiro Mifune as the bold, hairbrained but courageous warrior weaves a colossal portrait. He dominates the picture although he has an extremely strong supporting cast.”

The Terminator (1984)

Sci-fi action film “The Terminator” follows a cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose son will one day save mankind from extinction from artificial intelligence, Skynet. Co-written and directed by James Cameron and co-written and produced by Gale Anne Hurd, the film topped the U.S. box office for two weeks and grossed $78.3 million.

“‘The Terminator,’ which opens today at Loews State and other theaters, is a B-movie with flair. Much of it, as directed by James Cameron (‘Piranha II’), has suspense and personality, and only the obligatory mayhem becomes dull,” wrote Janet Maslin in a New York Times review. “There is far too much of the latter, in the form of car chases, messy shootouts and Mr. Schwarzenegger’s slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way. Far better are the scenes that follow Sarah (Linda Hamilton) from cheerful obliviousness to the grim knowledge that someone horrible is on her trail.”

Toy Story (1995)

Animated comedy film “Toy Story” follows the first adventures of cowboy doll Woody and space cadet action figure Buzz Lightyear. Owned by a boy named Andy, Woody and Buzz are a part of a group of toys that spring to life when humans aren’t around. Birthed after the success of Pixar’s short film “Tin Toy,” “Toy Story” was the first feature film from Pixar and the first entirely computer-animated feature film.

“To swipe Buzz’s motto –“To infinity and beyond”–“Toy Story” aims high to go where no animator has gone before,” wrote Leonard Klady in a 1995 Variety film review . “Fears at mission control of the whole effort crashing to Earth proved unwarranted; this is one entertainment that soars to new heights.”

Toy Story 2 (1999)

“Toy Story 2” continues Woody and Buzz Lightyear’s journey as the co-leaders of the toy group. When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and the other toys must find set out to find him. During his time with the collector, Woody meets Jessie and Stinky Pete, other toys also based on characters from the TV show “Woody’s Roundup.” The animated film was originally supposed to be a direct-to-video sequel, but was upgraded to a theatrical release by Disney.

“In the realm of sequels, “Toy Story 2″ is to “Toy Story” what “The Empire Strikes Back” was to its predecessor, a richer, more satisfying film in every respect,” wrote former chief film critic Todd McCarthy in a 1999 Variety film review . “The comparison between these two franchises will be pursued no further, given their utter dissimilarity. But John Lasseter and his team, their confidence clearly bolstered by the massive success of their 1995 blockbuster, have conspired to vigorously push the new entry further with fresh characters, broadened scope, boisterous humor and, most of all, a gratifying emotional and thematic depth.”

Deliver Us From Evil (2006)

“Deliver Us From Evil” is a documentary that follows the case of convicted pedophile Oliver O’Grady, who molested approximately 25 children as a priest in northern California between the late 1970s through early 1990s. Filmmaker Amy Berg tracks O’Grady down to Ireland, where he was deported after being convicted of child molestation in 1993 and serving seven years in prison.

“Given how strong this kind of testimony is, “Deliver Us From Evil’s” decision to hype it more than it needs to be is unfortunate,” L.A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan said about the film in a 2006 review. “The film has a weakness for over-dramatization, for unsettling music and portentous close-ups of O’Grady’s hands and lips that are distracting and unnecessary.”

“There is nothing over-dramatic, however, about the deeply painful testimony of the adults who were victimized as children and their still traumatized parents,” he continued. “’He was the closest thing to God that we knew,’ one mother says. ‘I let the wolf in through the gate.'”

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

“Taxi to the Dark Side” is a documentary film directed by Alex Gibney about the 2002 killing of an Afghan taxi drive named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being detained without a trial and interrogated at a black site, a detention center operated by a state where prisoners are incarcerated without due process or court order.

The film was a part of the “Why Democracy?” series, produced by The Why Foundation, which consisted of 10 documentary films examining democracy.

“Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) has crafted more than just an important document of systemic abuse — he’s stripped the rhetoric from official doublespeak to expose a callous disregard for not only the Geneva Conventions but the vision of the Founding Fathers,” writes Jay Weissberg in a Variety film review . “All enemies in wartime are perceived as animals, but Gibney uncovers the ways the White House and Pentagon have encouraged torture while distancing themselves from responsibility.”

Man on Wire (2008)

James Marsh’s “Man on Wire” documents the death-defining hire-wire stunts of Philippe Petit, who in 1974, performed a tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. “For contemporary audiences, Petit’s moment of mastery is inevitably shot through with a sense of loss; the following scenes, which reveal the band’s subsequent dissolution, reaffirm the bittersweet truth that triumph is but fleeting,” wrote Catherine Wheatley, who reviewed the film for Sight and Sound in 2010. “The film’s vision, though, is ultimately uplifting: relationships, like buildings, can collapse into rubble, but as [Annie Allix] tenderly puts it, sometimes ‘It is beautiful that way’.”

Poetry (2010)

Lee Chang-dong’s “Poetry” chronicles the life of Mija, a Korean grandmother who is simultaneously dealing with an early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the violent crime committed by her teenage grandson. “Now is the time to bestow on yourself the gift of one of the most, well, poetic films of 2010,” Lisa Kennedy wrote for the Denver Post in 2011. “And by ‘poetic,’ we mean rich with soulful pauses that are at once visual and aural and deeply observant of the dance of routine and quiet surprise.”

Waste Land (2010)

Lucy Walker’s “Waste Land” follows modern artist Vik Muniz to Jardim Gramacho, Brazil, the world’s largest landfill. There, he photographs the work of “catadores,” men and women who collect the refuse to recreate classical art. Legendary film critic Roger Ebert wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times in 2011, “I do not mean to make their lives seem easy or pleasant. It is miserable work, even after they grow accustomed to the smell. But it is useful work, and I have been thinking much about the happiness to be found by work that is honest and valuable.”

The Square (2013)

“The Square” is a documentary film by Jehane Noujaim, which follows Egyptian revolutionaries during the Egyptian Crisis, a period that started with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at Tahrir Square and lasted for three years. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won three Emmys.

“Continuing to follow a group of activists as they rally against the undue powers of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Army, ‘The Square’ understands that the Revolution itself is a work in progress, and while its immediacy means it, too, will soon be superseded, it stands as a vigorous, useful account,” writes Jay Weissberg in a 2013 Variety film review .

Gloria (2013)

Sebastián Lelio’s “Gloria” follows the relationship between an aging divorce and an amusement park operator after their chance encounter at a singles disco. “With someone else in the central role, ‘Gloria’ might have been cloyingly sentimental or downright maudlin,” wrote Joe Morgenstern in his 2014 Wall St. Journal review. “With [Paulina García] on hand, it’s a mostly convincing celebration of unquenchable energy.”

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2014)

Isao Takahata’s “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” tells the fable of a beautiful young woman who sends her suitors away on impossible tasks in hopes of avoiding a loveless marriage. In a 2015 review for Sight and Sound, Andrew Osmond wrote, “While the characters feel very simplified at times, there are scenes that put great weight on performance and subtle expressions, in a way that’s nearer to the classical Disney tradition than most Japanese animation.”

Seymour: An Introduction (2014)

Ethan Hawke’s documentary “Seymour: An Introduction” chronicles the life of Seymour Bernstein, a concert pianist who, at age 50, gave up performing to become an educator and composer. “Coming off of his superb one-two performances for Richard Linklater in ‘Before Midnight’ and ‘Boyhood,’ Hawke continues to work at a creative high level,” wrote Bruce Ingram in his 2015 review for the Chicago Sun-Times. “He demonstrates a rapport and openness with his subject that proves exceptionally affecting.”

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)

From directors Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” follows an Israeli woman’s three-year battle to separate from her husband who refuses to dissolve their marriage. “Ultimately the movie is wearying, but then it’s likely supposed to be,” Tom Long wrote for Detroit News in 2015. “If Viviane’s going through the wringer, you’re going through the wringer too.”

One Cut of the Dead (2017)

Shin’ichirô Ueda’s “One Cut of the Dead” follows Director Higurashi and his crew who attempt to shoot a zombie movie at an abandoned WWII Japanese facility. Things go wrong when they realize they are being attacked by real zombies. In his 2019 Los Angeles Times review, Carlos Aguilar called the film, “A master class in endless narrative inventiveness and an ode to the resourceful and collaborative spirit of hands-on filmmaking, ‘One Cut of the Dead’ amounts to an explosively hilarious rarity.”

Leave No Trace (2018)

Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace” follows a father and daughter hiding in the forests of Portland, Ore. When a misstep tips off their location to local authorities, they must escape and find a new place to call home. Peter Travers wrote in his 2018 Rolling Stone review, “Debra Granik’s drama about a damaged war vet (Ben Foster) living off the grid with his teen daughter, brilliantly played by breakout star Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, is hypnotic, haunting and one of the year’s best.”

Summer 1993 (2018)

Carla Simón’s “Summer 1993” is told through the eyes of six-year-old Frida, who watches in silence as her recently deceased mother’s last possessions are packed into boxes. “Some creatures are able to grow new limbs,” wrote Joe Morgenstern in his 2018 Wall Street Journal review. “Frida, given more than half a chance after demanding it, achieves something no less remarkable. She grows new joy and hope.”

Minding the Gap (2018)

“Minding the Gap” follows the relationship of three boys who use skateboarding as an outlet to escape their hardships at home. “The film captures more than a decade long documentary footage showcasing their friendship. In some documentaries, the filmmakers attempt to make themselves invisible. Despite Liu’s camera-shyness, he never pretends to be anything other than a part of the story, hitting his subjects with direct, deeply personal questions,” wrote Peter Debruge, who reviewed the film for Variety in 2018.

Honeyland (2019)

“Honeyland” is a Macedonian documentary film that was directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov. The movie follows a woman and her beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of North Macedonia. Guy Lodge from Variety describes “Honeyland” as it begins as a “calm, captured-in-amber character study, before stumbling upon another, more conflict-driven story altogether — as younger interlopers on the land threaten not just Hatidze’s solitude but her very livelihood with their newer, less nature-conscious farming methods,” he said.

Welcome to Chechnya (2020)

“Welcome to Chechnya” released in 2020, exposes Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government as they try to detain, torture and execute LGBTQ Chechens. “A vital, pulse-quickening new documentary from journalist-turned-filmmaker David France that urgently lifts the lid on one of the most horrifying humanitarian crises of present times: the state-sanctioned purge of LGBTQ people in the eponymous southern Russian republic,” wrote Guy Lodge from Variety in 2020.

Crip Camp (2020)

“Crip Camp” is based on Camp Jened, which was a summer camp for teens with disabilities in the ’70s that inspired real-life activism. The film eliminates stereotypes and challenges the way people think about disabilities. “It may be startling for those who haven’t spent time with people with cerebral palsy or polio to see how a paraplegic gets from his wheelchair into the pool,” wrote Peter Debruge for Variety in 2020. “On closer inspection, it becomes clear that these teenagers…are having the time of their lives.”

76 Days (2020)

“76 Days” is a documentary released on Netflix in 2020 that shows the struggles of medical professionals and patients in Wuhan, China dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. “As an artifact alone, the result is remarkable, capturing all the panic and pragmatism greeting a disaster before its entire global impact had been gauged, while strategies and protocols are adjusted on the hoof,” wrote Guy Lodge for Variety in 2020. “That it’s so artfully and elegantly observed, and packs such a candid wallop of feeling, atop its frontline urgency is testament to the grace and sensitivity of its directorial team, not just their timely savvy.”

His House (2020)

“His House” is a horror movie that initially released on Netflix and terrified audiences. The plot follows a refugee couple that try to create a new life for themselves in an English town by escaping South Sudan but find their new home is haunted. Jessica Kiang reviewed the film for Variety in 2020 and wrote “‘His House’ is at its most persuasively terrifying when it gets out of the house and into the existential terror of reality. Out there are aspects of the refugee experience that contain greater horrors and mortifications than all the blackening plaster, childish ghostly humming and skittering presences in the walls could ever hope to suggest.”

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

“Quo Vadis, Aida?” documents the journey of Aida, a translator for the U.N. in Srebrenica interpreting the crime taking place when the Serbian army takes over the Bosnian town. “This is not historical revisionism, if anything, ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ works to un-revise history, re-centering the victims’ plight as the eye of a storm of evils — not only the massacre itself, but the broader evils of institutional failure and international indifference,” wrote Jessica Kiang, who reviewed the film in 2020 for Variety.

Hive (2021)

“Hive” tells the true story about a woman, Fahrije, who becomes an entrepreneur, after her husband goes missing during the Kosovo War. She sells her own red pepper ajvar and honey, and recruiting more women to join her. “Within the heavily patriarchal hierarchy of the country’s rural society, this places these maybe-widows in an impossible situation, especially when, like Fahrije, they have a family to care for,” writes Jessica Kiang for Variety . “They are expected to wait in continual expectation of their breadwinner-husbands’ return, subsisting on paltry welfare handouts, because to take a job or set up a business is looked on not only as a subversion of the natural order, but as a sign of disrespect to the husband and possibly loose morals.” 

Descendant (2022)

Netflix described its 2022 film, saying, “Descendants of the enslaved Africans on an illegal ship that arrived in Alabama in 1860 seek justice and healing when the craft’s remains are discovered.” “This past remains present, Brown shows, as activists explain how the land on which Africatown (formerly Magazine Point) was established once belonged to Meaher, who sold some of it to former slaves.,” wrote Peter Debruge for Variety . “Talk of racial injustice calls for nuance, and it’s impressive just how many facets of the conversation Brown is able to include in her film.”

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

“20 Days in Mariupol” tells the story of a group of Ukrainian journalists who are trapped in Mariupol during the Russian invasion and struggle to continue documenting the war. The film is directed by Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian director and it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film in 2024. “Powerful as those glimpses were to international viewers, Chernov doesn’t spare his documentary more brutally sustained moments,” wrote Dennis Harvey for Variety . “There’s no political analysis or sermonizing here, just a punishingly up-close look at the toll of modern warfare on a population.”

More From Our Brands

Trump refuses to commit to accepting 2024 election results, brabus’s new flagship is a loud, speedy 45-foot dayboat. we hopped onboard., ryan reynolds’ firm invests in vintage apparel maker homage, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, bridgerton star nicola coughlan: my contract requires a pg version so my parents can watch, too, verify it's you, please log in.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
• I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow
• The Idea of You Link to The Idea of You

New TV Tonight

• Hacks: Season 3
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Season 1
• Shardlake: Season 1
• The Veil: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• Acapulco: Season 3
• Welcome to Wrexham: Season 3
• John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA: Season 1
• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire: Season 1
• My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Season 4.2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• Them: Season 2
• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• The Green Veil: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Knuckles: Season 1 Link to Knuckles: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

100 Essential Criterion Collection Films

100 Best Free Movies on YouTube (May 2024)

Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Summer Movie Calendar 2024

Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2024 Programming Guide

• Trending on RT
• The Fall Guy
• The Idea of You
• Best Movies of All Time
• Play Movie Trivia

Dave Chappelle: The Closer Reviews

Why Netflix Deserves Some of the Heat for Dave Chapelle’s Transphobic Comments

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Aug 8, 2023

The false inversion distorts the lopsided power dynamics between comics and their critics and denies detractors the license Chappelle demands for comedians. In the same breaths, he preaches freedom and dismisses feedback.

Full Review | Nov 16, 2021

The climax isn't simply the story about Daphne herself, it's what she tells Dave while he's on stage...

Full Review | Original Score: 90/100 | Oct 24, 2021

What's frustrating about Chappelle's special is that there are bits of shrewd, intelligent observations in the act.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 22, 2021

A revolutionary act of defiance

Full Review | Oct 12, 2021

He's "rich and famous," he reminds us. Huge. "Clifford" big, he adds. He should start acting like it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 10, 2021

Flashpoint comedy at its finest...a near-brilliant, free-flowing blend of comedy and commentary...If anything, the show is a taunt, its message clear: Cancel me. I dare you.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 10, 2021

What is the function of the court jester? Tell the truth. Sure, it makes us laugh too, but the laughter caused by the jester's ridiculous behavior is usually a poisoned apple. Dave Chappelle is a good court jester.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 9, 2021

Chappelle's most incendiary, troubling, and unapologetic one yet.

Full Review | Oct 8, 2021

The comedian's new Netflix special "The Closer" is a panicked defense of controversial past jokes. The humor doesn't land. Neither does the justification.

Chappelle's rampant transphobia doesn't need to be a problem as long as the jokes land, but his obsession with grievances supersedes any pretense of crafting actual humor.

Full Review | Oct 5, 2021

• Discount Codes

This new horror series has a 100 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating

The gripping new series premiered last week

A new horror series currently has a 100 per cent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes .

The second season in the Them anthology series, titled The Scare , premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 25, and has received a generally positive reception.

The series stars Luke Cage and True Detective ’s Deborah Ayorinde, as well as Jackie Brown ’s Pam Grier, and singer/songwriter Luke James.

Ayorinde, who also starred in the first season as a different character, plays an LAPD Detective investigating a gruesome murder, set in 1991. As Dawn Reeve gets closer to uncovering the truth, something evil begins to take over her life and her family.

The Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes “represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show”, and for Them: The Scare , it’s currently at 100 per cent.

One review of the eight-episode series read: “Bolstered by its incredibly gifted actors, Them: The Scare is a terrifying supernatural slasher that moves the anthology to the right track.”

Recommended

Another review described the series as “deeply unsettling” while another noted the deeper themes in the anthology: “Like the first season of Them , the horror in Them: The Scare is as much about institutional racism than it is about some sort of apparition or monster.”

The first instalment in the anthology was titled Covenant , and was released in April 2021. It starred British rapper Ashley Thomas, as well as Us star Shahadi Wright Joseph.

Them: Covenant is set in 1953 and follows a black family who move to an all-white Los Angeles neighbourhood from North Carolina, during the Second Great Migration.

The first season currently has a 58 per cent rating on the Tomatometer, and was met with mixed reviews upon its release.

All episodes of Them: Covenant and Them: The Scare are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.

• Related Topics
• Amazon Prime Video
• True Detective

You May Also Like

Lankum: “this generation of irish artists have a confidence to stand up and be themselves”, j noa: “rap is history, and history needs to be told”, chiedu oraka: northern grime trailblazer’s story proves he’s a fighter, ranking the ‘fallout’ games by their radio stations, steven knight on ‘this town’ and his big-budget ‘peaky blinders’ movie, more stories, english teacher, bill ryder-jones and beyoncé are 2024’s best rated albums so far – according to metacritic, ‘the repair shop’ presenter jay blades opens up on uncle’s recent murder, ryan gosling and mikey day dressed up as beavis and butt-head for ‘the fall guy’ premiere, kendrick lamar’s drake diss track ‘euphoria’ features sample of reversed richard pryor line from ‘the wiz’, manchester’s co-op live arena pulls a boogie wit da hoodie show last minute due to “venue-related technical issue”, why does martha misspell messages in ‘baby reindeer’.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Needs To Do Better After This New 75% Rotten Tomatoes Surprise

• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 faces high expectations but must overcome mixed audience reactions from the Knuckles TV spin-off series.
• Introducing Keanu Reeves as Shadow, Sonic 3 looks to expand the franchise lore but must surpass low Knuckles ratings.
• Sonic 3's connection to the main film franchise and introduction of iconic characters like Shadow may help it reach new heights.

Although Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is highly anticipated after the critical and commercial success of the previous two films in the franchise, the movie is now under increasing pressure after the reaction to a separate TV series. Although expectations were somewhat dampened ahead of the first film in 2020, especially following a well-publicized row over Sonic's appearance, the movies have gone from strength to strength, securing a dedicated following. While this would ordinarily put Sonic 3 in a strong position, the expectations of that following means that there are now potentially serious consequences for failure.

Just as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 raised the stakes from the previous film, introducing a range of new characters and furthering the series' lore, Sonic 3 looks set to continue the trend. Alongside returnees like Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik and Idris Elba's Knuckles, Sonic 3 will introduce a major new player in the form of Keanu Reeves' Shadow – although what role he'll play in the story is currently uncertain. While this is very exciting for long-term fans, the performance of a recent TV series suggests that it won't all be plain sailing for Sonic 3 .

Knuckles' Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score Is Much Lower Than Sonic 1 & 2

Although both Sonic movies had a mixed reception among critics, both were extremely well-received by fans. Not only were they financial success stories (making $320m and $405m respectively), but the two films scored highly among viewers according to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of writing, Sonic the Hedgehog sits at 93% positive audience reviews , while the sequel registers an even more impressive 96%. Despite this reception, however, the franchise's TV spin-off Knuckles has had a comparatively unimpressive performance.

Although the Idris Elba-led series – reprising his role from the main movies – has been generally well-received by critics (with Knuckles scoring 73% positive professional reviews ), its audience score sits at a similar 75% . Ordinarily, this might be considered a relatively strong performance – especially given video game adaptations' mixed records. However, it's notable that this score is significantly lower than the genuinely outstanding rating of the original Sonic movies, suggesting that enthusiasm for Knuckles is nowhere near as pronounced.

Knuckles Ending Explained: Knuckles Journey & Sonic 3 Set-Up

Why knuckles rotten tomatoes audience score is so much worse.

Although Knuckles goes against the trend established by the Sonic films of having a Rotten Tomatoes audience score significantly higher than its critics' rating, there are good reasons why enthusiasm might not be as high for the spin-off. Perhaps most obviously, Knuckles ' Sonic spin-off status means that it necessarily doesn't include many of the same elements that make the movies so successful. Not only is Sonic a very peripheral figure , only appearing in a guest role, but other major players like Tails and Dr. Robotnik are either restricted to cameos or are entirely absent – save for flashbacks. Naturally, this limits the story's appeal.

the films succeed because of the speed of their storytelling, with kinetic action sequences helping to fill the gap whenever the narrative is in danger of falling flat

Another complicating factor is how the TV format restricts the impact of stories in the Sonic universe. Like the lighting-fast blue hedgehog himself, the films succeed because of the speed of their storytelling, with kinetic action sequences helping to fill the gap whenever the narrative is in danger of falling flat. Unfortunately, as a TV show, Knuckles naturally feels more episodic , so lulls in the action are more pronounced. Given how successful the previous format has been for Sonic , it's unsurprising that changes have proved slightly less popular.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3: Release Date, Cast & Everything We Know

Why sonic 3 can do better than knuckles.

Although the drop in positive audience reaction may seem slightly alarming, there's every reason to suggest that Sonic 3 can reverse the slide. For one thing, the fact that it's a movie and part of the main franchise means that many of the things audiences love about the first two films will be restored, presumably bringing a popularity boost with them. Beyond this, however, there are factors unique to Sonic 3 itself that mean it could be the biggest film in the franchise yet.

Not only will the movie finally deliver on one of the key missing elements from the games by featuring Jim Carrey's Dr. Robotnik in his authentic video game form, but it will also introduce one of the Sonic series most beloved supporting characters, Shadow. Set to be voiced by Keanu Reeves, Shadow is a dark reflection of Sonic who has variously been portrayed as a hero and an antagonist – raising several interesting possibilities for his Sonic 3 story. Combined with the fact that he will be voiced by a superstar like Reeves, and Shadow's presence could ensure Sonic the Hedgehog 3 reaches new heights for the franchise.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Director Jeff Fowler

Release Date December 20, 2024

Cast Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Lee Majdoub, James Marsden, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz

Franchise(s) Sonic the Hedgehog