Diary of a Chambermaid
Cohen Media Group | Release Date: June 10, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJun 10, 2016
Taking on a novel that’s already been adapted by two of the greatest filmmakers of all time should give any contemporary director pause, you would think. But Benoît Jacquot shows no signs of intimidation in his Diary of a Chambermaid. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 16, 2016
It’s a strength, not a weakness, of Jacquot’s that he makes movies about people. The ideas can take care of themselves. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJun 16, 2016
Diary of a Chambermaid doesn’t quite add up to the chronicle of decadent abuse endured by the servant class in turn of the century France that it hopes to be, but it’s still worth seeing as another entry in the rise of Léa Seydoux, a star of Gallic charisma if ever I’ve seen one. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJun 8, 2016
The lack of ambiguity reflects Benoît Jacquot's treatment of the text, which is devoid of either formal obsessiveness or a contemporary hook. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 9, 2016
Léa Seydoux, in all her haughty and sullen sexiness, dominates this well-crafted piece of suspenseful if curiously pointless hokum from French director Benoît Jacquot; it leads its audience up an elegantly tended garden path to nowhere in particular. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenJun 9, 2016
Unfolding elliptically, the new film can feel abrupt and unsatisfying, but it’s filled with sharp commentary on class and servitude, and the actress delivers another extraordinary performance. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenJun 9, 2016
Ms. Seydoux’s triumph is her skill at imbuing Célestine with an almost angelic radiance that clashes with her underlying coarseness. Read full review
60
CineVueLucy PopescuFeb 19, 2015
Diary of a Chambermaid is beautifully shot and Jacquot's adaptation, co-scripted with Helene Zimmer, effectively conveys the casual violence of country life as well as the petty obsessions and miserliness of the bourgeoisie and the harsh treatment of their servants. The performances are also superb and Seydoux's stillness and quiet hauteur is particularly memorable. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJun 8, 2016
In spurts, it resembles an homage to classic French cinema and an overheated, Tinto Brass-esque Euro skin flick, but still finds plenty of room for stultifying, upstairs-downstairs costume drama. Read full review
50
Screen DailyDan FainaruJun 15, 2016
Seydoux never manages to assemble all of Celestine’s various features into one convincing character, while the social, sexual and political nuances in the script are well-established clichés. Read full review
50
The Film StageMichael SnydelJun 15, 2016
Jacquot’s Diary of a Chambermaid ultimately feels beholden to art-house dictates, especially with an ending that’s less confounding than poorly articulated. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 8, 2016
Benoît Jacquot’s The Diary of a Chambermaid is a gorgeously mounted and dramatically inert bit of fluff that drapes itself over a smoldering Léa Seydoux but never manages to catch fire. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonJun 8, 2016
Star Léa Seydoux — in her second collaboration with Jacquot (the first being 2012's Farewell, My Queen, in which she plays an adoring reader to Marie Antoinette) — further demonstrates, with each sly, gap-toothed grin, a keen understanding of power and impotence. Read full review
50
VarietyGuy LodgeFeb 10, 2015
The film milks some brisk comedy from its upstairs-downstairs peekaboo, but is too breezy to convince in its depiction of obsessive erotic fixation — making for a “Diary” that oddly feels less exposing as it goes along. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerFeb 10, 2015
If Chambermaid lacks the dramatic push to carry it through to the end, Seydoux’s performance remains robust and engaging throughout. Read full review
42
The PlaylistJessica KiangFeb 19, 2015
Where Jacquot largely knows what he's doing on a micro-level within individual scenes, and the sets and costuming are pretty special, he seems unable to assemble the parts into a coherent, consistent whole. So the film meanders and hiccups. Read full review
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