Duck Butter
| Release Date: April 27, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 26, 2018
Shawkat's writerly voice in Duck Butter is deeply personal and probing. The film is funny and honest and Arteta, working with cinematographer Hillary Spera, balances the intimate material with a light, airy sensuality. Shawkat and Costa each give intensely powerful performances, and together they are magnetic. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 26, 2018
[Ms. Shawkat] and Mr. Arteta, a sensitive observer of life’s everyday churn (his credits include “Beatriz at Dinner”), do some lovely work in a movie that reminds you that sometimes all you need in realist fiction is a glimpse into another person’s being — but with heart and intelligence, good craft and technique. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaApr 27, 2018
Duck Butter is a lot — I felt dizzy upon leaving the theater, like I myself had just gone through that same wired 24 hours the protagonists did. For that, I have to give Arteta and Shawkat props — and as the writing debut for the latter, it isn’t shabby at all Read full review
70
Screen DailyNikki BaughanApr 24, 2018
Ultimately, it works as both a character study and welcome example of an LGBTQ film in which none of the characters are defined by their sexuality or gender, but by their individual choices — both good, and bad. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnApr 26, 2018
The movie amounts to a tame, forgettable doodle, as if designed to imitate the scruffy Duplass movies that Naima worships; for Shawcat, however, it’s a promising step in a new direction that suggests a far more confident artist than the one she plays onscreen. Read full review
67
The Film StageJohn FinkApr 24, 2018
Duck Butter remains a subversive treat for much of its running time, even when it falls into familiar patterns. Read full review
67
The PlaylistKimber MyersApr 24, 2018
Like its characters, Duck Butter is imperfect, but unlike human objects of our affection, it’s attractive despite its flaws rather than because of them. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 27, 2018
By compressing everything into an overheated 24-hour period, Duck Butter is able to explore the highs and lows in extreme circumstances, where the importance of every moment and action is heightened. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNick AllenApr 27, 2018
Co-written by Shawkat and Arteta, there is an unshakable theme in here about two artistic women trying to find their voice. It’s more of an issue that Duck Butter makes up what it wants to say as it goes along. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineGreg CwikApr 23, 2018
The setup of a 24-hour relationship that bypasses the getting-to-know-you phase speaks to the nature of expedited modern dating culture, but despite its attempts at intimacy, Duck Butter is difficult to fall in love with. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 16, 2018
Miguel Arteta did “Chuck & Buck” and “The Good Girl,” and in star and co-writer Alia Shawcat, of “Arrested Development” and the TBS series “Search Party,” he’s got a collaborator willing to put it all out there and forget her comic crutches for an intimate, damaged and personal story packed into day and night of enforced intimacy with somebody who might “be the one.” Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeApr 25, 2018
Duck Butter is clever without being all that hilarious, and personal without being all that revealing. Read full review
50
The New YorkerRichard BrodyApr 26, 2018
The exaggerated, unambiguous expressivity and the connect-the-dots definitions of character (featuring pat confessions and reheated memories) reflect the closed-off academicism of acting workshops and screenplay pitches rather than the open-ended complexities of life. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 1, 2018
There’s dialogue, but very little interchange. The movie makes your average mumblecore mumblefest sound like Preston Sturges. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeApr 25, 2018
Watching a couple bicker about the specifics of their relationship can be illuminating when done right, but here it becomes a chore, the problems they encounter feeling contrived and silly. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschApr 25, 2018
The movie is stuffed with talent and buffed with hipster-indie polish. It’s also frequently silly, only fitfully involving and often surprisingly banal despite its outré premise. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKristen Yoonsoo KimApr 25, 2018
I’m still hopeful about Shawkat’s screenwriting career — especially since her performance always feels so genuine, adding substance to an otherwise deflated story. But other than the script’s daring premise, the material doesn’t rise up to the potential she hints at here: a comedy of ingenuity that takes advantage of Shawkat’s fearless frankness. Read full review
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