Abuse of Weakness
Strand Releasing | Release Date: August 15, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiAug 15, 2014
This is a work just as startling and potent as anything she has done to date — a powerful example of art being used to exorcise personal demons that is anchored by two stunning performances and some of the most gripping moments to be seen in any film so far this year. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenAug 21, 2014
With clinical dispassion and narrative elegance, Breillat has constructed what she calls "a thriller about denial." Read full review
90
Village VoiceZachary WigonAug 12, 2014
Breillat's impressive film is a study of bodies and how we carry them, and it explores the manner in which weakness seeks out strength on an almost primal level, bypassing the higher modes of human thought. Read full review
88
Boston GlobePeter KeoughAug 21, 2014
Huppert’s amazing performance not only masters the physical rigors and deformations of her character, but more importantly captures her cold capriciousness and the enigmatic innocence that one of Maud’s friend’s labels “perverse.” Read full review
83
IndieWireGary M. KramerAug 26, 2014
Huppert gives a virtuoso performance here — not only because she deftly meets the extreme physical challenges of her role, but by playing Maud with unabashed humor and heart. Read full review
83
The PlaylistChristopher SchobertSep 17, 2013
Abuse of Weakness is a frustrating experience, yet one that feels utterly unique and relentlessly watchable. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith UhlichAug 19, 2014
It’s another fascinating entry in the director’s ongoing exploration of the sadistic and masochistic facets of human behavior. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijSep 17, 2013
Like in all of the director’s work, psychologically reductive readings of the characters are absent, though intriguing performances give audiences a way into the material. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 17, 2013
Of all living actresses, only Huppert could capture nuances that alternately elicit sympathy and fierce sexual attraction to a recent stroke victim. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAug 20, 2014
Writer-director Catherine Breillat who adapted the film from her own roman à clef, seems content to let the story stand on its own two feet, as if it were something that she’d invented from whole cloth rather than experienced. It’s a laudable approach, in theory, but it backfires a bit in this particular instance, because what occurs is so psychologically inexplicable that Breillat’s alter ego comes across as terminally foolish. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 17, 2014
Huppert is a wonder, inhabiting every iota of rage and froideur and helplessness; if only the movie's motives were as lucid as her performance. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartAug 13, 2014
In Abuse of Weakness, Breillat, notorious for her sexually explicit films, casts the excellent Isabelle Huppert as her avatar, Maud, to tell the tale. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineEla BittencourtJul 24, 2014
Breillat's scripting of Maud as fatally distant from her family, willfully independent, but more believably abandoned, is haunting. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenAug 14, 2014
It is hard to imagine that any other actress could muster the stubborn ferocity that Isabelle Huppert brings to the role of Maud. Read full review
70
The DissolveScott TobiasAug 13, 2014
Abuse Of Weakness is the director’s attempt to account for actions that seem inexplicable, and make the audience understand and sympathize in kind. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 2, 2014
Abuse of Weakness is 20 minutes of a great movie and another 85 minutes of nothing much. Read full review
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