Feels Good Man
| Release Date (Streaming): September 4, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SlashfilmAbby OlceseMar 26, 2020
Feels Good Man is, in some sense, a horror movie about the legacy of images, the ownership of images by their creators, and the lives they take on outside of the artists who make them. In particular, it’s a horror story about the life of one particular image: Pepe. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 26, 2020
Beyond putting the focus back on the artist and his art, what makes Jones’ documentary important is that it actually takes on internet culture in a serious fashion. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzSep 7, 2020
Pepe was been turned into something he was never intended to be. His creator and steward didn't realize what was occurring until it was too late to halt or reverse it. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineDerek SmithAug 30, 2020
That the democratization of the internet has opened a doorway for fascist ideologies to openly quash democratic ones is an irony that isn’t lost on the film. Read full review
83
Paste MagazineJacob OllerOct 22, 2020
Feels Good Man’s greatest strength is affirming that even the most lighthearted things are worth fighting for. Even when it means buying a suit and going to court to protect your frog-man. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 7, 2020
Pretty darn entertaining. Read full review
83
The PlaylistWarren CantrellSep 3, 2020
Feels Good Man is an intriguing look behind an online curtain that rarely gets pulled back, and is investigated critically even more infrequently. Slick animation graphics and well-paced interview testimonials bolster the effort and paint a very clear (if regrettable) picture of how art can sometimes get away from the artist. Read full review
83
The Film StageJordan RaupSep 3, 2020
It’s a depressing, disturbing journey to witness, but an essential one to see the machinations of evil that pervade and influence our daily life on the internet and beyond. Read full review
80
VarietyNick SchagerSep 3, 2020
Feels Good Man offers an inside peek at the internet’s growing ability to affect and shape modern society, which often makes the film a nightmare about extremism and technology. Read full review
80
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergSep 3, 2020
At its best, the movie is a vertiginous, head-slapping examination of the tangible, unpredictable consequences of making art. Read full review
80
The VergeAdi RobertsonFeb 25, 2020
Many documentaries become less interesting the more you already know about the subject. But Feels Good Man presents a heavily covered story in a thoughtful and vivid way. Even its standard talking-head segments are peppered with compelling absurdities. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenNov 13, 2020
Director Arthur Jones delivers a fascinating deep dive into meme culture, tracing how something like this can happen so quickly in our viral age. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckSep 6, 2020
Because seeing what happened to Furie and his chill stoner frog dude — spoiler alert, he became a hate symbol of the alt right — will likely make your blood run cold. It sure makes for a chillingly effective internet-era cautionary tale. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 3, 2020
This isn’t just the definitive story of a perma-stoned frog who just likes to do what “feels good man,” it’s also an expansive forensic look at the life cycle of an idea, a warp-speed analysis of internet sociology, and a harrowingly modern fable about innocence lost. If the film can’t find a way to be all of those things at once, it’s still horrific and fascinating and maybe even a little bit hopeful to see how this strange world of ours has knotted them together. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleJoseph Bien-KahnSep 3, 2020
Jones uses Furie’s story, and some gorgeous animation, as a wonderfully succinct window into the way social media has changed the country. By letting 4channers speak for themselves, the film also puts a face to the bad actors without ever letting them off the hook. Read full review
70
Vanity FairJoshua RiveraSep 9, 2020
Feels Good Man shows the collective lizard brain of the internet at work, explaining how systems driven by engagement naturally propagate outrage and instigation. Read full review
70
Film ThreatNorman GidneySep 3, 2020
Ultimately affirming Feels Good Man is a fun, feel-good doc. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergSep 3, 2020
Buying Pepe as misunderstood and buying Pepe as a character destined for redemption are two different things, and it's the argument after the buildup where Feels Good Man stopped feeling persuasive for me. Your hopefulness may vary. Read full review
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