Bad Tales
Strand Releasing | Release Date: June 4, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeSep 14, 2021
Parental indifference is not attuned to the looming tragedy in this horribly compelling fable. Read full review
80
Screen DailyJonathan RomneySep 14, 2021
Provocative Italian feature Bad Tales is one of those films that aren’t afraid to confront you with the grimmest aspects of the human condition, but yet leave you feeling strangely exalted by the sheer cinematic invention involved. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 14, 2021
It is a superbly shot, viscerally acted ensemble drama. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassJul 1, 2021
Narration, as the film reminds us, isn’t only a diversion but a form of authority, of power, and when authority is least conspicuous, it’s often at its most insidious. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 14, 2021
Surprising, disconcerting and droll, this Italo-Swiss co-prod packs the grotesquerie of an Ulrich Seidl film minus the sex, plus vivid acting. Its weakest link is on the narrative level. Read full review
67
The Film StageDavid KatzJun 4, 2021
Even if the impact Bad Tales creates ultimately feels cheap, there’s no denying the force and expert construction of it. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 14, 2021
As a curdled storybook, Bad Tales is highly watchable. The problem is that the brothers aren’t telling stories fueled by powerful characters; they’re staging awkward cruelties as if for a gallery show. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 14, 2021
Drowning in style but shallow in substance. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 3, 2021
The story is both overwrought and underdeveloped, with potentially important plot details insufficiently explained or left out altogether. Read full review
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