Creative Control
Amazon Studios | Release Date: March 11, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
8
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
IndieWireEric KohnMar 9, 2016
Visually scrumptious and slickly told, Creative Control illustrates the power of groundbreaking technology while also indicting its extremes. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 18, 2016
As we’re enjoying the beautiful cinematography and the fine acting and the dark humor, Benjamin Dickinson is delivering a signature work announcing his arrival as a filmmaker to watch for years to come. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniMar 18, 2016
While it hits some of the usual sci-fi tropes, Creative Control's center of gravity isn't tech itself, but the relationships of those who use it. Read full review
85
The VergeBryan BishopMar 23, 2016
While it may not be entirely successful, it’s a film filled with clever insights, driven by the kind of sharp filmmaking voice that can push the genre forward. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 9, 2016
Creative Control is a much more modest film (both visually and thematically) than something like Her or Ex Machina, but it never feels hamstrung by its limitations. If you go with its future-shock flow, it will cast a spell that feels like something between a dream and a nightmare. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan HoffmanMar 10, 2016
When something is this engaging (and funny, did I mention funny?) it ceases to merely be about ideas and becomes, even in this borderline sci-fi context, a thoughtful movie about people. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenMar 18, 2016
Creative Control is a hypnotic voyage into a society where technology addiction comes to rule and ruin those who fall under its seductive spell. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 11, 2016
Creative Control goes its own playful, provocative way. For a film about technology's growing dehumanization, this stylized beauty is a frisky, formidable temptation. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKimber MyersMar 10, 2016
Creative Control has a lot to say, and style to spare, but stronger performances and better-drawn characters could have made its message even more effective and enjoyable. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 8, 2016
The story is lightweight and flimsy, and the resolution of the plot is too on-the-nose, pat, but the unfeeling nature of this future — about halfway to “Her” if you remember that film — and the mechanical nature of interactions, even sex, make Creative Control one of the most interesting recent exercises in film futurism. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMar 10, 2016
Creative Control is funny and imaginative, where many films of this type are dispiritingly plain. Read full review
70
SlateDavid EhrlichMar 10, 2016
Captivatingly confident, unsparingly wry, and agreeably cynical about how the black mirror of technology can reveal our worst qualities by reflecting our best selves, Creative Control is the rare blast of speculative fiction that has the temerity not to limit itself to rhetorical questions. Read full review
70
VarietyBen KenigsbergMar 9, 2016
A contemplative tone, a zigzagging narrative, superb widescreen black-and-white cinematography and an infusion of dry humor make it feel genuinely fresh. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiMar 9, 2016
Creative Control has a knowing, caustic wit, and it’s not afraid to go to pitch-black places. Read full review
67
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerMar 9, 2016
Creative Control ably captures the entitled narcissism of modern Brooklyn twentysomethings by way of a plausible near-future, Read full review
67
The Film Stage Bill GrahamMar 9, 2016
Well-acted, quietly funny, and with enough meat to keep a thinker satisfied, Creative Control pushes against just being beautiful to look at and manages something more. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 18, 2016
It’s a strange little movie - by turns fascinating and frustrating. Its strong thematic thrust is counterbalanced by an uneven and at times farcical narrative and the characters are more avatars than well-realized individuals. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMar 9, 2016
In the end, it all comes down a cautionary tale call to “real life” — a call that the movie will heed, just as soon as it’s done with this latest scene of David pretending to f--k a polygonal figure to Vivaldi. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 18, 2016
Maybe the real message here is that Brooklyn hipsters are absurdly annoying, whether it's past, present or near future. On that front, Creative Control succeeds. As a compelling film about the alienating effects of technology, not so much. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisMar 17, 2016
Intelligently made and contains some impressive set pieces. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 17, 2016
You realize the movie isn’t nearly as clever as it looks. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinMar 10, 2016
Creative Control is the most elegant vision imaginable of a world in the process of losing its moorings. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMar 9, 2016
More stylishly compelling and seamlessly produced than it is imaginative. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 10, 2016
Concocted with heaps of style but only a smattering of substance, Benjamin Dickinson’s sophomore feature, Creative Control, is as brittle and unwelcoming as its characters’ surroundings. Read full review
40
The New YorkerRichard BrodyMar 9, 2016
The pleasures of the design fade along with those of the pat and callow drama. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonMar 14, 2016
As a techie, I expected more from Creative Control. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 17, 2016
There’s a whiff of autoerotic indulgence that carries over to the entire film, which despite its handsome black-and-white aesthetic and gloss of social critique seems a bit too smugly self-satisfied for its own good. Read full review
30
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonMar 9, 2016
This toothless, silken-looking satire takes aim at easy targets: white Williamsburg ennui, technology, yoga. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineClayton DillardMar 7, 2016
The film is overrun with characters, but it's less interested in their identity than their plasticity. Read full review
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