Katie Walsh

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Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Playlist, The Seattle Times, TheWrap
For 1,346 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 64% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 30% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Katie Walsh's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 64
Highest review score: 100 Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Lowest review score: 0 Father Figures
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 796 out of 1346
  2. Mixed: 378 out of 1346
  3. Negative: 172 out of 1346
1346 movie reviews
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    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Unexpected
    Unexpected is sweet and the portrait of the friendship is lovely, but it also feels too slight.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Katie Walsh
    Naz & Maalik
    A refreshing and relevant cinematic representation, Naz & Maalik is an impressive debut for the filmmaker and actors.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    The Courier
    It zigs when it might zag (unless you’re already familiar with Wynne’s life story), and “The Courier” becomes something much more dark, complex and moving.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Good Night Oppy
    Despite the somewhat bland nature of the storytelling — it’s not like this documentary is pushing the boundaries of the form — it’s an incredible true story told with care and skill.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Katie Walsh
    Twisters
    Even if Chung does leave us wanting just a little bit more romance, he delivers a supremely entertaining summer blockbuster in Twisters, one with a thematic heft that makes it even better than expected, and better than the first.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    The Art of Self-Defense
    Stearns grapples with notions of gender, violence and identity. But in this mannered, ironic take, his punches don't land hard enough to leave a mark.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 100 Katie Walsh
    Samsara
    Simply put, Samsara tells the story of our world, but onscreen, it is so much more than that.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Katie Walsh
    Fallen
    It’s faithfully formulaic, but the cast makes it appealing.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 88 Katie Walsh
    Two of Us
    Sophisticated management of tone makes Two of Us rich and nuanced, complex and utterly heartbreaking. Within the folds of the film, simultaneously a love story, thriller and tragedy, nearly anyone can find an anchor, or a wound. It illustrates with devastating clarity what a mess secrets can make, and how one errant, unpredictable thread can unravel any carefully calibrated lie.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    The Black Phone
    Thames delivers a searingly authentic performance as the young Finney, and when he’s all alone in the basement with ghosts, “The Black Phone” is at its best: suspenseful, emotional and filled with jump scares.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Katie Walsh
    Dim the Fluorescents
    The smart premise is muddled with far too many tangents — bumbling romances, rivalries with old classmates, troubled cats, precocious teens, angry dance sequences. When focusing on the central relationship, the film is at its best.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Stop-Zemlia
    The sensually crafted Stop-Zemlia is a fine conduit to bring forth those visceral sense memories of teenage life
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Sharper
    The film is a slickly-executed piece, an enjoyable but almost unbearably twisty puzzle box of narrative fun, but once everything slots together the box is unfortunately empty.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Katie Walsh
    The Overnight
    Smart, playful, and hilarious, The Overnight is a delightful romp between the sheets.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    The Smashing Machine
    It becomes clear that Safdie is intentionally denying a big, flashy “win the game” kind of film, offering instead a cerebral examination of the quotidian, workmanlike drudgery of being a professional athlete who never became a superstar household name, still shouldering the work, the struggle, the bad days, quibbling over contracts and rules, taking every hit without complaint.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 83 Katie Walsh
    Red Flag
    It’s a fun, laugh-out-loud dark comedy, and proves that Alex Karpovsky and crew have made their mark.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Last Breath
    This sturdy, solid thriller underscores that at their core, survival stories are always stories of humanity’s best, and the impossible things we can achieve when we work together.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    100 Nights of Hero
    While 100 Nights of Hero sports compelling actors and beautiful visuals (often best seen in montage, animated by editing), its storytelling about the power of storytelling is unfortunately less than riveting. The urgency of the message remains, but the delivery leaves something to be desired.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Suffragette
    The torment that Maud is put through is devastating, but Suffragette, as a film, often robs itself of its own emotional power.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Folk Hero & Funny Guy
    Folk Hero & Funny Guy is an amiable road movie powered by great music. But it’s much more than just that, with deeply felt, lived in emotions capturing the ups and downs of longterm friendships, the nervous spark of a new attraction, and the power of making amends.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 91 Katie Walsh
    Tangerine
    Utilizing underseen subjects, [Baker] captures their world in a thoughtful and artful way, and it also happens to be a damn fun ride.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 40 Katie Walsh
    Runoff
    The low energy pace and performances strive for naturalism but just don't achieve compelling tension or suspense.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Alien: Romulus
    Alvarez gives Spaeny her hero moments, whether in her care of her comrades or destroying an invasive species, and she expresses the inner strength and utter determination to survive required of an “Alien” franchise installment. Sometimes, that demonstration of sheer humanity and grit is all that’s required to make one of these films sing.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    To All the Boys I've Loved Before
    Centineo is the big beating heart at the center of the somewhat reserved To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. He’s a lot like his character, bringing out the best in this love story.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Katie Walsh
    Enforcement
    The brawny Enforcement doesn’t shy away from brutal action, but the film is more in line with recent police thrillers like Deon Taylor’s “Black and Blue,” and Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables,” which fuse overt sociopolitical commentary with genre thrills.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    MaXXXine
    Goth holds MaXXXine together through the sheer force of her charisma, despite the bumpy plot, an underwritten character and the plodding, perfunctory kills that arrive like clockwork.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 88 Katie Walsh
    Rental Family
    As an actor, Fraser’s second act has been a sight to behold, and he is the emotional anchor of this wonderfully life-affirming and quietly resonant film about the importance of being together that announces Hikari as a major talent to watch.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    undertone
    In channeling his creative resources toward the sound of “Undertone,” Tuason conjures a lot out of a simple concept — a girl in a house. The marriage of this sound design to thoughtful, carefully placed camera movements makes for a horror film that’s a suspenseful slow burn.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Katie Walsh
    Northern Soul
    The electrifying Northern Soul captures the 1970s British club scene of the same name with ethnographic detail and ebullient style.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Fast Color
    Hart and Horowitz's script connects the dots on the meaning and messages of the film, which is thrilling in its radicalism. But the execution is heavy-handed, sapping the joy of discovery from the film packed with so much originality, brilliance and beauty to be discovered.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Slash
    The film is a respectful analysis of burgeoning sexuality, the sometimes embarrassing missteps that come along with figuring it out, and exploring that all through fiction.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Between Us
    The loose style of the film is held together by the strong performances from the leads and supporting actors alike.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    XX
    It’s fascinating to observe how the feminine perspectives of XX create four powerfully compelling and original horror tales that operate within the genre while testing the boundaries of traditional storytelling and style.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Ready or Not
    While the mocking tone mostly undermines any trenchant commentary, the strongest impression Ready or Not leaves, thanks to Weaving’s eye-rolling, primal-screaming, evil-giggling performance, is of the cathartic, transformative female rage at the center of it all.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Nasty Baby
    The film takes a dark turn at the end, and while the two sides of Nasty Baby are interesting, well-made, and well-performed, they feel like two completely different movies.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    The Wild Boys
    Writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s The Wild Boys is a heady, sexually charged take on “Lord of the Flies” — an exciting sail on the waters of gender fluidity that energetically skewers any notion of the binary.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Katie Walsh
    Elvis
    At the center of Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling pop epic Elvis, a film as opulent and outsize as the King’s talent and taste, Butler delivers a fully transformed, fully committed and star-making turn as Elvis Presley. The rumors are true: Elvis lives, in Austin Butler.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 83 Katie Walsh
    Holy Hell
    While Holy Hell only offers answers about this particular group and the experiences of these individuals, it’s a riveting piece of work, a look into a tightly-controlled and private world of brainwashing, abuse and exploitation in the name of spiritual fulfillment.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Pick of the Litter
    This film — which follows the process as a litter of puppies make their way through training to become guide dogs for the blind — shows us the best in humanity, as well as the best in dogs.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Constructing Albert
    It becomes clear that fame isn’t what he’s chasing — it’s perfection in innovation. Anything less is eighty-sixed.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar
    This friendship comedy in which best friends Barb (Mumolo) and Star (Wiig), do, indeed, go to Vista Del Mar, is so outrageously infectious the only choice is to submit to its kooky charms.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 65 Katie Walsh
    Marvelous and the Black Hole
    Marvelous and the Black Hole proves to be a small marvel of an indie gem and an assured debut for Tsang.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    The Lost King
    It’s a film that calls into question our own biases and accepted notions and encourages one to get out there and find the truth — it could be an adventure after all.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    Gunn exhorts the audience to embrace the quirky, the messy, the flawed, to strive for connection, not precision in this world and beyond. It’s a resonant message at the center of all the din.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 90 Katie Walsh
    All Together Now
    The story is simple but what makes the film remarkable is how Haley effortlessly, earnestly marshals performance, tone and style.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Gladiator II
    Gladiator II maps closely onto the original film’s structure and style, so there’s not much about it that is surprising or unexpected. The film itself is a son, made from the same DNA, in the same image. It is the only “Gladiator” sequel that could possibly exist and exactly what you expect, for better or for worse.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Nobody
    Lean, mean and brutish, Nobody is best enjoyed as the juicy piece of pulp that it is. But Odenkirk, stepping into an action hero role for the first time, brings a sense of dolefulness and rue to this performance.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Greenland
    If we strip away the comets raining fire on the earth, this film is about how the ways in which how we treat each other can be a matter of life or death. Even in that darkness, it dares to have a little hope.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    The Apprentice
    Some may want “The Apprentice” to go further. It does humanize Trump. But it also presents a plainly obvious depiction of how a man can turn into a monster with the right personality, background and guidance. What more could it possibly need to say?
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Synchronic
    What makes Synchronic sing is the two together, zinging each other with sardonic one-liners, their conversations meandering to the cosmic and the macabre after a few whiskeys.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Katie Walsh
    Good Girls Get High
    While the rest of the film feels slightly juvenile, Quinn, who costarred in “Landline,” keeps Good Girls Get High afloat, with her wide-eyed combination of pathos and humor that vacillates from deadpan to goofy.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 90 Katie Walsh
    Anna and the Apocalypse
    In the Christmas zombie teen musical Anna and the Apocalypse, a whole lot of genre is stuffed into one neat little package, and happily, giddily, it is perfectly executed, landing like a triumphant triple axel splattered in gore, and wrapped in tinsel.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Seoul Searching
    Despite the overwrought stylization, the heart of Seoul Searching does ultimately emerge: a tender story that’s more about the high stakes of youthful connection than culture, proving that this universal tale transcends borders.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Don't Talk to Irene
    This cute movie hits all the heartwarming notes — adorable seniors, sassy gender-noncomforming kid and a love interest for Irene. It all wraps up perfectly, and though it can seem a bit pat, "Don't Talk to Irene" is sincere enough to earn it.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    The Dead Center
    Carruth’s troubled performance holds the piece together until it loses the thread on its own tenuous mythology, descending into incoherent cacophony.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Piece By Piece
    Piece by Piece is ultimately a surprisingly moving biography, and a resonant reminder of Williams’ outsize cultural footprint. The Lego format doesn’t cheapen the power of Neville’s message, but rather reflects the quirky, outside-the-box thinking of the artist himself, who has always marched to the beat of his own drum, steering the cultural ship according to his unique point of view.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
    It’s the best film he’s made in years.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Downton Abbey: A New Era
    Downton Abbey: A New Era is a chaste, mannered soap opera that feels like a relic of another time in more ways than one, but perhaps, that’s the entire appeal.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Sicario: Day of the Soldado
    Sollima’s style is cool and observational. There also are several stunts combined with camera movements that are genuinely jaw-dropping.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 88 Katie Walsh
    Piercing
    What a deliciously demented and disturbing drama Nicolas Pesce's Piercing is, dripping with gore and laden with forbidden innuendo.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Atomic Blonde
    It's a shame, because Atomic Blonde is a visual cinematic delight. It's not that it's all style, no substance. But it doesn't seem to know what to do with its substance, and ultimately, Atomic Blonde becomes a film that's all dressed up with just nowhere to go.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    I'm Your Woman
    Hart and Horowitz map this hero’s journey onto her growth as a mother, her empowerment proving to be a source not just of strength, but love — a rare commodity in a crime flick.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Tallulah
    Despite the melodrama, the connections these women forge are heartfelt and earned.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Let Him Go
    In many ways, it feels like the midcentury pulp thrillers it emulates: well-plotted and grisly, but almost ephemeral. It is Lane’s performance that lingers, one that dares to be uniquely hopeful about the future, and letting the old ways die.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 91 Katie Walsh
    Algorithms
    Algorithms is a completely unique film, unlike any other documentary you might see this year, both for its content and its form.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    All Saints
    The cinematic execution of All Saints is serviceable at best. It's stilted at times, with too much dead air hanging around, and the stakes and roller coaster of ups and downs in the script often seem out of step with the emotion on-screen.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Split
    While McAvoy is known for his dramatic roles, and as the young Charles Xavier in the "X-Men" franchise, he's delightful when let off the leash and allowed to show off his loud, campy, unhinged side.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Normal
    The irony and meaninglessness of the violence rankles, especially when Ulysses is presented as such a nice guy who is prone to de-escalation and community care in his day-to-day work.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Alpha
    It's sweet, really, to imagine the kind of devotion Alpha might inspire, a film that's very simple, kind of strange, but will melt any dog-lover's heart.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    In the Earth
    Wheatley’s film works on a purely elemental level; like nature itself, the film is a sensory event, the narrative often subsumed by the aural and visual experience.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    The Matrix Resurrections
    The result is a swift, self-reflective, often funny and always original reimagining of the material, which sees Wachowski reassessing the existing characters and lore of “The Matrix” while embroidering the text with new ideas and details. It’s less of a reboot than a remix, and this time, it’s a bop.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Friend Request
    It's the highest praise to describe Friend Request as "a hoot" — the kind of midnight movie best seen with a large crowd laughing and screaming along, offering words of advice or encouragement to the naive characters on screen.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Bone Lake
    Bone Lake offers up an appealing surface, but it’s just too shallow to get very far.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Thanksgiving
    If Thanksgiving had to be any specific dish on the holiday table, it would be stuffing: disparate chunks tossed together and baked. Stuffing is a dish where old bread goes to shine — a cheap and easy crowd-pleaser. But this particular serving of it is missing a crucial element, the binder.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 75 Katie Walsh
    Hotel Mumbai
    Visceral and suspenseful, Hotel Mumbai is also deeply humane and moving, anchored by searing performances from Patel, Kher, Boniadi and Hammer.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 88 Katie Walsh
    Oh, Hi!
    Incisive, insightful and very funny.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Lee
    This is a penetrating biopic, and while it may take a familiar shape, the pioneering woman at the center was anything but traditional.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Call Jane
    Though the film is politically and culturally urgent, it’s too much of a challenge to connect with the void of character at the core of this screenplay. We may all have the power to be Jane, but the image of Jane remains frustratingly hazy in Nagy’s depiction.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    Dirty God
    Polak’s film is an unflinching exploration of beauty, identity, sex and self in the wake of a life-changing event.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Young Woman and the Sea
    These filmmakers clearly have a knack for capturing nautical adventure and the delusional yet undeniably human desire to conquer the seas.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Katie Walsh
    American Folk
    The songs are lovely, and the first-time actors give performances that grow warmer as the film progresses, and their characters release, relax and find a groove, if only for this moment in time.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    The Valet
    The central relationship of “The Valet” is the weakest part of the film, and much of the comedy is a bit tiresome, though a few bits do pop.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 Katie Walsh
    Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
    Certain qualities are undeniable, such as Keaton’s command of this character and O’Hara’s unique wit. Ryder has the heaviest performance lift, transitioning her character from teen to mom, but she finds her groove in the back half of the movie. But there’s something a bit bland and manufactured about this version.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Katie Walsh
    Sadie
    While the pace of “Sadie” meanders and is often a bit pokey, the excellent cast, including Danielle Brooks as Carla, the local bartender and Rae’s best friend, brings your attention fully to the dramatic goings-on in this tiny community.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 63 Katie Walsh
    Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
    Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead is surprisingly authentic and fun for this kind of nostalgia-baiting remake material, which is naturally formulaic. It’s the focus on character and allowing the actors to shine that makes this one sing, and it should make a star out of Jones, who, like her character, manages to hold it all together.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Katie Walsh
    Roseanne for President!
    Roseanne for President can’t quite decide what it wants to be: a political farce underlined with John Philip Sousa-esque military marches, a deep dive into the electoral workings of various third parties like the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party or an intimate portrait of a fascinating, wild and influential cultural icon. It’s all of these things and therefore not quite enough of each of them.
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