Filth
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: May 30, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
TimeRichard CorlissMay 30, 2014
This one starts at the level of lunacy and keeps on escalating. Next to Filth, "Trainspotting" looks as sedate as "The Polar Express." Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinOct 4, 2013
I loved every minute of Filth, and couldn’t have stomached another second of it. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounOct 1, 2013
This punky adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel Filth is a glossary of grimness, a dictionary of darkness. But it also dishes up humour that’s blacker than a winter’s night in the Highlands and unpolished anarchy that’s true to Welsh’s out-there, frighteningly frank prose. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon WiseSep 30, 2013
A bulked-up James McAvoy dominates the screen in this razor-sharp Glasgow smile of a black comedy, packed with aberrant sex, hard drugs and maximum David Soul. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramSep 26, 2013
With McAvoy acting as if his life depends on it, Filth is the Irvine Welsh film we’ve been waiting years for. Tastier than a deep-fried Mars Bar. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonSep 24, 2013
Baird can be forgiven for a handful of careless and ham-fisted touches. Filth is still a hugely entertaining breath of foul air fueled by McAvoy’s impressively ugly star performance. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 29, 2014
Even when the film falls to pieces, McAvoy's bonkers brilliance will blow you away. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithMay 28, 2014
Writer-director Jon S. Baird has devilish fun with the hilarious black-comic elements of Irvine Welsh’s novel, but the incessant bad behavior does get a wee bit monotonous, and the twist ending is disappointingly pat. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMay 6, 2014
James McAvoy wallows in it in his new film, Filth. He embraces the sexual depravity, the drug and alcohol abuse, the bullying, vile language, racism and rank sexism of being a Scottish cop on the loose. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeNov 2, 2013
Powered by a vigorous, image-shedding lead turn from James McAvoy as a coked-up Edinburgh detective on the fast track to either promotion or self-implosion, this descent into Scotch-marinated madness begins as ugly comedy, segues almost imperceptibly into farcical tragedy, and inevitably — perhaps intentionally — loses control in the process. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJessica KiangOct 21, 2013
When it comes to capturing some of the gonzo, amoral, substance-fueled verve that Welsh’s novels can display, Filth can take the silver medal with its head held relatively high. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineNick PriggeMay 26, 2014
Ultimately, the film is too nihilistic to believe its protagonist can be saved, declaring him a lost soul and satisfied to let him suffer. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 5, 2014
Taking the bad-cop genre to the extreme, Filth lives up to its title and then some, but a no-holds performance by James McAvoy is reason enough to watch. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 29, 2014
Director Jon S. Baird lets Welsh’s language fill up the room, even when it’s a wee bit hard to fathom. Read full review
60
The DissolveAndrew LapinApr 28, 2014
Filth is bolstered by a gonzo performance from McAvoy, who seems determined to out-Bad Lieutenant the American Bad Lieutenants. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 31, 2014
Watching the movie is at once electrifying and maddening. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 29, 2014
The best you can say about the over-the-top Filth is that it's a brisk wallow, with enough elbow room to marvel at McAvoy's sinkhole aria of a performance. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiJun 4, 2014
Filth seeks to eventually gain your sympathies, tricking you to care about a character who’s just dragged you through the gutter of human depravity for the last 90 minutes, only to offer up an absolution that, while attempting to be dark and edgy, is just flat and unconvincing. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 29, 2014
After a certain point, watching it is like listening to the ravings of an increasingly incoherent and abusive drunk. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAbby GarnettMay 27, 2014
A self-aware psychopath is a tough character to humanize, especially when he's mired in a stylized jumble of comedy and tragedy. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 5, 2013
For the first half-hour it's got a full-on horrible energy, but there isn't enough humour for it to qualify as comedy, and not enough reality or plausible characterisation to justify calling it any sort of procedural noir. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)John SemleyMay 29, 2014
Stylistically, Baird seems keen to position Filth as a spiritual sequel to "Trainspotting." Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMay 30, 2014
Rather than a how-sweet-to-be-a-lout story that turns semi-cautionary, Filth attempts to depict genuine madness. Read full review
16
The A.V. ClubDavid EhrlichMay 28, 2014
Like all of the very worst dark comedies, Jon S. Baird’s insipid and self-satisfied Filth isn’t content to merely tap into viewers’ most odious desires. It also insist that it’s revealing them. Read full review
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