Helen O'Hara

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Empire, The Telegraph, Time Out
For 278 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 3.5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Helen O'Hara's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 62
Highest review score: 100 Avengers: Endgame
Lowest review score: 20 The Brothers Grimsby
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 88 out of 278
  2. Mixed: 187 out of 278
  3. Negative: 3 out of 278
278 movie reviews
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    • 60 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    House of Gucci
    [Ridley Scott's] second film in as many months, after The Last Duel, is uneven, overlong and completely over the top, and has characters and plot turns that Marvel and Pixar would reject as ‘a bit much’. The good news is that it is undeniably a proper drama and, for the most part, wildly entertaining.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 100 Helen O'Hara
    Petite Maman
    A story even more delicate and moving than Sciamma’s last effort, this takes an unusual and thoughtful look at girlhood, motherhood and friendship. It’s enchanting.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    tick, tick...Boom!
    It’s a lot of passion and restless, sometimes misdirected energy to channel through this film, but Miranda marshalls it effectively, communicating Larson’s talent and drive without obscuring the fact that he could, sometimes, be a bit wearisome about it.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 40 Helen O'Hara
    Home Sweet Home Alone
    A defanged variation on the theme that doesn't commit hard enough to be silly fun, beyond a few chuckles.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    King Richard
    This may not quite be the biopic of two women whose achievements decidedly merit one, but it’s an extraordinary story about a man who endured danger, ridicule and desperation to create the circumstances for them to thrive.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 Helen O'Hara
    The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Stark but utterly compelling, this chilling take on Macbeth is a visually stunning tour de force. It’s as good as you’d expect from this cast and crew, which is saying something.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Free Guy
    The result is overlong and rarely groundbreaking – there are hints of The Truman Show, Edge of Tomorrow and, visually, Inception – and suffers from some obnoxious filmmaking shorthand in its portrayal of other cultures late on.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Respect
    A perfectly serviceable biopic with good performances, which goes some way to explaining Franklin’s genius as a musician and a star, but one that isn’t nearly as transcendent as its subject deserves.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 40 Helen O'Hara
    Jungle Cruise
    Credit goes only to its two stars that this is watchable, because the film is a derivative hodge-podge unworthy of their charisma. Just rewatch The Mummy and cut out the middle man.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    In the Heights
    Like a shot of summer holiday straight to the arm, this will have you shimmying out of the cinema and hugging all your neighbours. It’s joyful.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
    It’s silly and a little too slow, but the characters are enormously charming and the design is overwhelmingly sumptuous. It should give viewers, especially children, a welcome hit of Christmas magic.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    The Secret Garden
    The film doesn’t quite trust the magic of the garden, adding visual dazzle and, sometimes, artificiality, but when the film relies on the kids and their relationship it still finds the book’s magic.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    The Trial of the Chicago 7
    A fiery condemnation of the police state and government overreach, this is both timely and timeless. Sorkin and a superb cast make legal proceedings compelling, and then show that the law is an ass.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    Calm with Horses (The Shadow of Violence)
    Lots of elements of the story feel familiar, but they play out in unusual and unpredictable ways here. We’ve seen the heavy-with-a-heart character before, but Jarvis gives Arm real pathos, even at his most violent.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 100 Helen O'Hara
    Hamilton
    Entertaining, energetic and unfailingly smart, this is theatre at the highest level, performed by a cast without a weak link. You can’t say no to this.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 40 Helen O'Hara
    Artemis Fowl
    An overqualified adult cast and some fun moments can’t entirely compensate for a defanged protagonist and too-static plot. This fantasy desperately needed a little more magic.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    The Lovebirds
    The plot is insubstantial in the extreme, but Rae and Nanjiani are so cool, and their loose, free-flowing improv so winning, that you probably won’t care.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
    It looks gorgeous and offers strong performances from Driver and Ridley in particular, but ultimately the saga ends with neither a bang nor a whimper but something inbetween.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 100 Helen O'Hara
    Little Women
    Not just for women of whatever size. Warm but never wishy-washy, cosy without being cutesy, this is a superb adaptation of the source and further evidence that Gerwig is the real deal.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Brittany Runs A Marathon
    An uneven but essentially likeable story about the joys of setting yourself improbable goals and the tribes you can find as a result, with a strong, committed performance from Bell at its heart.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    Terminator: Dark Fate
    Easily the third-best Terminator film, which is more of a compliment than it sounds. It’s great to have Hamilton back in this role, but she’s ably matched by Reyes and Davis.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
    An improvement on the first film, in the end, and an encouraging rallying cry against fear and intolerance, but it’s still far too busy and baroque to match its leading lady’s elegance.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Helen O'Hara
    The Aeronauts
    We know that this cast can produce magic together, and that this director can inject pace into unlikely topics. It’s just this one that seems to have feet of clay.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Helen O'Hara
    Honeyland
    Stunningly beautiful and quietly powerful, this is a portrait of a vanishing way of life and of a determined woman who’s just trying to make her way in the world.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    Downton Abbey
    Gentle, unchallenging drama for people who already know they like it, this is a nostalgic and rosy depiction of an England that was, surely, never so innocent.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Helen O'Hara
    Stuber
    It’s uneven and doesn’t quite hit the right balance between yuks and yuck, but the charisma of the two stars – particularly Nanjiani – carries it along. A shame to waste Uwais on such a limited role, though.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    The Lion King
    The great circle of life has thrown up a gorgeous, star-studded story, but trading feeling for realism means that we lose something of the original film’s excellence.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 90 Helen O'Hara
    Yesterday
    A glowing tribute to The Beatles and their music, this is both a toe-tapping pleasure to watch and a smart, occasionally scathing look at how we get things wrong.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 Helen O'Hara
    Avengers: Endgame
    A victory lap that moonwalks through the best part of the MCU back catalogue and emphasises emotion as much as action, this is an intensely satisfying piece of blockbuster filmmaking.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 Helen O'Hara
    What Men Want
    The storytelling is a little loose, but as a workplace comedy with a side-line in romance, this earns its laughs thanks to the immensely game Henson and a stellar supporting cast.
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