Brimstone
Momentum Pictures | Release Date: March 10, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
10
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireJonathan PileSep 25, 2017
Brutal in its depictions of violence, Brimstone is tough to watch at times, but never less than gripping, even as the clock creeps up to the 150-minute mark. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJessica KiangMar 7, 2017
In a way it’s a shame that film builds backwards, because while it adds layers of tricksy narrative intrigue, that trajectory somewhat simplifies the thematic texture as the movie wears on. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijMar 7, 2017
It feels like a sermon delivered by an extremely cine-literate preacher. Read full review
60
The GuardianAndrew PulverMar 7, 2017
Brimstone is hampered somewhat by its ponderous, doom-laden pace, and resultant bloated running time, but remains an intriguing slant on the spaghetti western. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMar 7, 2017
Dark, lurid, sadistic and powerful, it is at the least a fascinating and bold debut, and promises better to come. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 9, 2017
If, for all of its godawful men, “Brimstone” has a hard time sewing its feminist fervor into anything more than a thin shawl over its bleak spectacle, this disturbingly watchable religious Western makes a solid case that hell is a place on Earth. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenMar 9, 2017
However heroic a figure Fanning’s Liz may be, however much this fine actress makes us feel her terror and determination, any sense of triumph is steadily, grindingly undone. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 9, 2017
The carnage pushes you away (and wears you down), even as the genre, industrious cast, beautiful landscapes and stark, often striking visuals pull you in. Read full review
50
Screen DailyLee MarshallMar 7, 2017
What’s lacking here, mostly, is a clarity of vision and control of tone that would give this prestige Euro-Western’s mannerisms a focus. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanMar 7, 2017
The film has gruesomely effective moments, and one at times gets caught up in the gears of its big interlocked narrative, but it also has serious longueurs. Read full review
50
The Film StageTommaso TocciMar 7, 2017
Director Martin Koolhoven shows the heaviest of hands in approaching the story. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael NordineMar 9, 2017
The filmmaker isn't as nimble as he is ambitious, though, and you'll feel all 148 minutes of Brimstone's runtime — just maybe not in the way Koolhoven wants you to. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 9, 2017
For all the visceral depictions of hatred and violence and human destruction, it feels as if the director is chasing his own tail and forgetting about making it all mean something. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 13, 2017
This grimly unpleasant two and a half hour endurance contest is an almost unwatchable, frustrating smorgasbord of blood, guts and gore. Read full review
30
We Got This CoveredDavid JamesMar 9, 2017
Brimstone is undeniably idiosyncratic, but it’s also an unpleasant, dull and indigestible film. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMar 10, 2017
Well, if there’s one positive thing to say about Brimstone, it’s that it doesn’t lack for lunatic ambition. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineCarson LundMar 7, 2017
Its bid for social correctness does nothing to make the juvenile and numbing fixation on brutality any more palatable. Read full review
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