Denial
Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: September 30, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverRex ReedSep 28, 2016
Another illuminating performance by Rachel Weisz and a brilliant screenplay by the distinguished British playwright David Hare make Denial one of the most powerful and riveting courtroom dramas ever made. Read full review
80
We Got This Covered Darren RueckerSep 29, 2016
Beneath this movie’s conventions are some interesting gender politics that perhaps could have been made more apparent, but to its credit, are pleasantly subtle. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 16, 2016
Rachel Weisz’s arresting, combative Lipstadt, a shining woman warrior, is a role she will be remembered for, while as her antagonist Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner) makes a spookily stubborn, thoroughly despicable, but still human Irving. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallOct 18, 2016
David Hare's screenplay based on Lipstadt's book is intrinsically stacked toward her eventual triumph, with each familiar step worth watching. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 14, 2016
The performances are universally strong - not that one would expect anything else considering the quality of the cast. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 13, 2016
Ultimately Denial works, thanks to its strong cast — particularly Spall, who gives Irving a slightly mad gleefulness, and Weisz, whose smart, tough Deborah chafes against the quiet acquiescence expected of her. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 11, 2016
The film’s courtroom concentration — the suit, prep and trial took years — makes it one of the driest treatments of The Holocaust ever. But Weisz and Wilkinson find emotions around the edges of all that be-wigged legal wrangling. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorOct 6, 2016
As her adversary, the ghastly Irving, Timothy Spall is excellent, creating a man of great insecurities hidden behind blustering self-confidence. The actor is happily willing to manufacture a thoroughly oily and dislikeable figure as he and Jackson successfully balance their villain on the knife edge of caricature. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 6, 2016
Weisz’s conviction, passion and galvanizing outrage drive Denial. For a Jewish academic, this was no intellectual exercise, and Weisz lets us see it. Between the frames, Weisz likewise assures us that Denial is no routine movie for a Jewish actress. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonOct 6, 2016
The fact-based Denial is a well-crafted and skillfully acted drama about standing up for the truth, regardless of how challenging that might be. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 6, 2016
A powerful but often stilted drama bolstered by two great performances from accomplished actors and nearly sunk by an unfortunately (and surprisingly) off-key performance from another fine actor. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineOleg IvanovSep 27, 2016
Denial shows that people’s misfortunes need not preclude them from living virtuous lives founded on basic human decency. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RuimySep 19, 2016
While Denial doesn’t do anything new on a technical side, it is fully aware of its gripping plot, one that welcomely avoids pushing its inherent clichés to the forefront of its story. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 16, 2016
A simple courtroom drama that never betrays its convictions, the film is a basic but bitterly urgent reminder that history is far more fluid than fact, a garden that must be tended to at all times lest it wither and grow weeds. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 29, 2016
Denial periodically plays like a standard-issue drama. But because Hare's script grapples with serious themes and singular events whose ramifications are still being felt, it is effective when it counts. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Sep 28, 2016
The action inside the courtroom is compelling. This is a place where people duel with words, not swords, but the wounds can be just as deep and permanent. Read full review
70
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 16, 2016
Jackson’s film is best enjoyed for the quality of the performances and the typical richness of Hare’s screenplay. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 12, 2016
Courtroom dramas can be tricky, tetchy things, but director Jackson, working from a script by David Hare (The Hours) keeps the suspense and moral indignation peaking high throughout Denial’s slightly overlong running time. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerSep 30, 2016
Wilkinson’s acting is likely to be undervalued simply because it seems effortless. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSep 29, 2016
Sadly, it’s hamstrung by a patchy script (by David Hare) and an oddly flat-footed performance by Rachel Weisz as Lipstadt. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryOct 6, 2016
The movie may be competent at telling its story, but it’s missing one key ingredient: feeling. Read full review
63
Boston GlobePeter KeoughOct 6, 2016
The film works adequately as a historical drama. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaSep 30, 2016
At the nasty center of the otherwise dutiful Denial is a slimy, self-aggrandizing upper-class blowhard of a bigot who believes he has every right to circulate hateful and hurtful falsehoods to his followers. Read full review
60
CineVueLucy PopescuFeb 2, 2017
Given the alarming rise of far right xenophobia, a film that portrays this memorable defence against fascism and the rewriting of history, feels exceptionally timely. There are more than a few parallels to be drawn between the swagger and deviousness of Irving and another well known falsifier, President Trump. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 2, 2017
Denial certainly isn’t great cinema – it gets stuffy and repetitive, and Lipstadt’s frustration at not being allowed to testify herself isn’t the burning issue it ought to be. Still, it’s textbook advocacy, and a teaching tool of genuine value. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsJan 23, 2017
A sturdy by-the-numbers legal drama that really belongs on the small screen. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonJan 23, 2017
Denial cries out for a little more subtlety. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlSep 29, 2016
The movie is fascinating in its approach to legal arguments, forensic evidence, and the uses and abuses of history — but, like the courtroom at its center, it doesn't have much feel for the feels. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerSep 28, 2016
Intentionally or not, Denial is perfectly timed to a season of insane conspiracy theories and feelings-based readings of facts. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenSep 29, 2016
The absence of an emotional catharsis in the film, efficiently directed by Mick Jackson (“The Bodyguard,” “Temple Grandin”) from a screenplay by the British playwright David Hare, leaves a frustrating emptiness at its center. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodSep 16, 2016
What’s most disturbing is Jackson’s pedestrian direction has resulted in a film that barely recognizes how powerful this is in contemporary society. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 16, 2016
For all the powerful relevance of its subject, Denial, directed by Mick Jackson from a script by David Hare, never finds its grip. It’s a curiously awkward and slipshod movie that winds up being about nothing so much as the perverse, confounding eccentricities of the British legal system. Read full review
40
The GuardianNigel M SmithSep 16, 2016
Under the workmanlike direction of Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard), what should have been a rousing and ragingly topical crowdpleaser, instead feels more like a Lifetime movie. Read full review
25
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeSep 29, 2016
The movie sneers at the journalists covering the trial, but for those of us who followed it at the time, the newspaper accounts were a lot more engrossing than this film. Read full review
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