Aardvark
Great Point Media | Release Date: April 13, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
9
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 4, 2018
First time feature writer-director Brian Shoaf stages some painfully awkward, sensitive and probing counseling sessions for Slate and Quinto to play. The script has lovely snatches of dialogue and fascinating, wounded characters. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 28, 2017
A filmmaking decision at the end of the film thumbs its nose at us, with the language of editing seeming to contradict the message of Shoaf's screenplay. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 16, 2018
A hard-to-swallow drama about sibling rivalry, mental illness, and bad therapy. Cobbled together using clichés and contrivances, Brian Shoaf’s feature debut perceives mental illness more as a personality quirk than a sickness and treats it almost as a kind of magical realism. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 12, 2018
Aardvark, while it has its moments, never lives up to the potential the cast would suggest. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis HarveyApr 12, 2018
The film can never quite decide what it wants to be — wounded-inner-child drama, quirky comedy, quasi-thriller, all the above — and its good ideas never quite gel, or lead toward sufficient narrative revelation. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonApr 11, 2018
In its last moments...Aardvark finds a groove. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 10, 2018
It becomes clear that the situation is exactly as we imagine it to be, and that the sense of mystery that Shoaf has spent so much energy weaving is a red herring. Read full review
50
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyApr 28, 2017
Brian Shoaf does not break any new ground in Aardvark (besides featuring an actual aardvark in an independent film), yet his pairing of stalwart female characters with troubled men is a welcome twist of gender stereotypes. Read full review
45
TheWrapDan CallahanApr 28, 2017
Aardvark is the sort of movie that gets by with its unpredictable where-is-this-going vibe for about a half-hour or so.... But it becomes apparent at a certain point that the set-up is pretty much all there is to this movie. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 12, 2018
Despite a strong lead cast and good intentions, Aardvark is a drag. Writer-director Brian Shoaf may have much to say about family dysfunction and its emotional effects but never finds a persuasive enough way to mine this oft-tread territory. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisApr 12, 2018
Mr. Shoaf wastes an excellent cast (and one cute aardvark — you knew there’d be one) in a movie of astonishing vacancy. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyApr 13, 2018
Aardvark doesn't know how to do what it wants to do. It's not that the tone is uneven or uncertain, it's that the film doesn't have a tone at all. Because a specific tone isn't established, earnest moments come off as insincere, deep moments seem like they're supposed to be a joke. It's not clear if all of this is by design or an accident from a first-time director. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaApr 6, 2018
The film adopts a half-hearted variation on A Beautiful Mind's gimmicky approach to grappling with a man's mental illness. Read full review
20
Village VoiceKristen Yoonsoo KimApr 12, 2018
Aardvark, the first feature from writer-director Brian Shoaf, is so inane that several times it put this critic into a fugue state. Meandering in message or plot, the film proves to be not just incoherent but excruciatingly boring, quite a feat with a cast that includes Jenny Slate, Jon Hamm, Sheila Vand, and, sure, Zachary Quinto. Read full review
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