Damsel
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: June 22, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyDana SchwartzJul 25, 2018
Far from a perfect film — the morals are clunky, the pacing awkward at points — Damsel still manages to achieve the rare distinction of being both ambitious and just so much goddam fun. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleDanielle WhiteJun 27, 2018
Austin mainstays the Zellner brothers have managed to make a Western genre film appropriate for the #MeToo era’s audience. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 28, 2018
Nearly every scene takes a sideways turn, and nearly every expectation we have doesn’t work out the way we anticipate it working out, and that’s what makes the journey so much fun. Read full review
83
The Film StageJordan Raup
There are few films that make one rethink the entire genre that came before it, but with their continually surprising, feminist bent approach, the Zellners have succeeded in doing so. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric Kohn
The downside to the Zellners’ uncompromising approach is that they sometimes hold an inspired moment for too long. Certain scenes drag, and some banter has an airless quality that causes a few gags to fall flat. But it’s often rescued by nuggets of hilarious dialogue...and the steady realization that the movie always has been one step ahead of audience assumptions. Read full review
80
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiJun 21, 2018
Damsel is viciously whimsical, if such a thing is possible, and it’s thrillingly subversive. But the punchline comes early, and it’s only repeated as the film progresses. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 21, 2018
Damsel may feel 20 minutes too long, but it fills them with attitude and cheek. Here, the frontier is not just a crucible of reinvention, but a wilderness that can make you more than a little crazy. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
I was alternately delighted and irritated, though mostly a very happy camper. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim Grierson
Throwing darts at genre conventions while honouring what is eternally mythic about the milieu, this comedy-drama draws off-kilter performances from Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska that subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) reframe archetypes and consistently set us back on our heels. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim Robey
What kept me smiling right through this overturned odyssey is that the men in it aren’t brave pioneers or scary outlaws or any such thing – they’re incorrigible nerds, a century before the word was coined. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 28, 2018
In Damsel, sibling filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner have created the perfect western for the #MeToo era, delightfully twisting and torquing the traditional woman-in-jeopardy narrative to create a clever, comical and uncannily relevant allegory. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJun 22, 2018
Damsel is a sly feminist manifesto disguised as a shaggy, amiable hangout movie. It’s a quirky, comic Western with bursts of startling violence. And it calls for a bit of a high-wire act from its gifted cast. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 20, 2018
Damsel won't work for everyone. It's too quirky for that. But it goes its merrily deranged way with prankish enthusiasm and a genuine sense of the absurd. Read full review
75
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanMay 7, 2018
Narratively, the Zellners are always looking to zag, and while that leads to some surprising passages, not all of them are safe. Instead, they often spill into dead ends, forcing them to backtrack and carry on elsewhere. Read full review
67
Film Journal InternationalTomris LafflyJun 21, 2018
Damsel is a worthwhile effort gleefully carried out by a dedicated ensemble—including the impossibly charming Butterscotch (Daisy in real life), who steals the screen one miniature step at a time. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd
With Damsel, the Zellners have made a kind of artisanal thrift-shop approximation of a Western. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJun 28, 2018
If you’re on their wavelength (like Kumiko, Damsel is driven by a dry sense of humor, with the studied pacing to match), you won’t mind. But if you’re not able to completely buy in, the movie’s second half might feel a bit like the long stretching out of the same, sly joke. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonJun 27, 2018
Damsel is designed to be a deliberately out-of-joint comedy about a woman forced to endure an exasperating ordeal. After two hours, I could relate. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleJun 20, 2018
While the movie isn’t quite as clever as it thinks it is, the Zellners have a sweet, likable sense of humor tinged with tragedy. And they remain filmmakers to watch. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 17, 2018
Damsel could have joined the ranks of, if not great Western comedies (“Destry Rides Again,” “Support Your Local Sheriff”), at least pretty good ones (“Cat Ballou,””Support Your Local Gunfighter”). As it is, we can guffaw at the characterizations and situations for a good hour before that horse is plum played out. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 21, 2018
There is something inspired about the idea of fusing old-school aesthetic brio and revisionist politics, but the instant you see what Damsel is up to, its power begins to dissipate. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen Gleiberman
Damsel is a comedy of attitude made with the indulgent touch of an art Western. That’s a refreshingly original thing, though it’s not as blow-you-away cool as the filmmakers seem to think it is. Read full review
60
The GuardianJonathan Romney
Damsel doesn’t go quite where we think it will, but then, surprise detours are rather to be expected in this kind of anti-quest story, and the film sometimes comes across – for all its grotesque, scabrous or surreal touches – as a little more benign than it might have been. Read full review
58
The PlaylistGregory Ellwood
The film’s inherent problems, however, are two fold. First, the third of the picture is an absolute slog. The Zellner’s may have though this was a creative choice to make the comedic scenes funnier when they finally hit, but it simply doesn’t work. Second, the funny bits simply aren’t as funny as they should be. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 27, 2018
Damsel, goofy, absurdist, and subversive, feels like a brave step in an uncertain direction. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyJun 18, 2018
The Zellner brothers, David and Nathan, wrote and directed this Western near-parody; though methodically conceived and occasionally tense, it’s slight and sluggish. Read full review
50
Film ThreatTiffany TchobanianJun 18, 2018
The Zellner Brothers wanted to create something that pokes fun at the genre and mixes things up in a creative and refreshing way. Unfortunately, the result is mildly funny and disappointingly predictable film. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy
The writer-directors are so intent on upending expectations and startling the audience that the effort shows far too much and, in the weak second half, ends up being terribly self-conscious. Read full review
40
Village VoiceSimon AbramsJun 21, 2018
Pattinson and Wasikowska deserve better material than the Zellners’ head-scratchingly lazy jokes. Read full review
40
CineVuePatrick Gamble
Accomplished as the filmmaking is, on a certain level the directors’ good intentions fall flat, resulting in an often clever but fundamentally flimsy comedy. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 28, 2018
Wasikowska struggles to activate a vague notion of female disenfranchisement and victimhood, triumphant. She and Pattinson fill in as many blanks as they can, where they can. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSteve Macfarlane
It's well established by now that the mythic Old West was always a trope written and controlled by men, and that there's really no bottom to which men won't stoop when women are a scarce quantity. In its mad rush toward performative allyship, the film exhausts every possible means of conveying those bombshells. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 27, 2018
Damsel is a misguided exercise, a 113-minute mistake and a waste of time, but it does have a good opening. Read full review
More From This Movie

63 Critic Reviews

5.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL