Firebrand
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: June 14, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
17
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 22, 2023
The threat posed by women who think for themselves to the absolute power of men is a central theme in this starch-free tale of Tudor intrigue, its protofeminist perspective seamlessly woven into the narrative fabric without a hint of the didactic. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 22, 2023
Law is horribly good. Read full review
75
TheWrapNicholas BarberMay 22, 2023
Strangely, the most conventional aspect of Firebrand is its central character. Read full review
70
The Film VerdictDeborah YoungJul 10, 2023
Clearly Aïnouz wanted to leave his mark on this alien genre, but Tudor-watchers may part ways with several characterizations, especially that of Katherine herself, updated as a political reformist and arch-feminist by a serious-looking Alicia Vikander. Read full review
70
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonMay 30, 2023
Sure, the script takes wild liberties that bear no resemblance to historical accuracies, but with Vikander and Law leading this wonderful ensemble, it’s a rather welcomed addition that will keep your eyes glued to the screen from start to finish. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 14, 2024
A kind of satisfaction ultimately arrives, but it is not one for purists, or even lovers of speculative history. It feels tacked on: too little, too late, too ludicrous — the past rewritten as a form of wishful thinking. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreySep 8, 2024
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s impassioned and atmospheric direction really takes hold. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeSep 8, 2024
Law is phenomenal – a petulant, powerful and vengeful man who has the court balanced on the knife-edge of his mercurial favour. Vikander is magnetic as Katherine, but, as with the depiction of Josephine (played by Vanessa Kirby) in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, the screenplay creates a strong woman of today rather than a credible figure from history. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 23, 2023
It’s hampered by a pedestrian script and an improbable ending, but always catches fire when the supercharged Law is on screen. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 22, 2023
It’s a watchable piece of faux history, but the movie does not know what to do with its own heroine, content to leave her to the clutches of its villain: Henry. Read full review
58
The Film StageSavina PetkovaMay 27, 2023
By zooming into the end of the couple’s marriage, Aïnouz draws out all dramatic power latent in a more straightforward historical overview. Compressed time and strict dramaturgy make this film work. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 22, 2023
Firebrand pays frequent lip service to the courage it surely required for Katherine to do her royal duties with a straight face at the same time as she cultivated such radical ideas in secret, but little about the film itself reflects the courage of her convictions. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 21, 2024
There’s a lot jam-packed into this movie, but it’s in such a rush to get through it all and to not bore us that it … well, it bores us. We’re lost, and we’re clearly not supposed to be. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlJun 20, 2024
The screenplay fails to bring any ingenuity in structure or dialogue, thus diminishing the power of Aïnouz’s characteristically operatic filmmaking. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 18, 2024
At a certain point, it feels as if scenes are missing, and what’s left reads as unconvincing. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJun 14, 2024
Aïnouz rarely builds tension through these machinations; surprisingly, given what’s at stake, “Firebrand” is often a bit of a slog. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 22, 2023
As sympathetic as Vikander is in the role, this queen remains a bit opaque, her inner life never brought into sharp focus. Katherine may have survived, but she’s still not fully known. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 22, 2023
Firebrand is clever to reframe Catherine as an important figure in England’s change. It just goes too far. Read full review
50
ColliderTherese LacsonMay 22, 2023
With a messy story and confusing characters, Aïnouz's Firebrand is a disappointment to behold no matter how exquisite the film looks. Read full review
50
The PlaylistIana MurrayMay 22, 2023
For a movie that seeks to establish the ferocious fire within the great, shunned Catherine Parr, it doesn’t take long for the flame to fizzle out. Read full review
40
CineVueJohn BleasdaleDec 2, 2024
Aïnouz has eschewed the post-modern fun of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite for a much grimmer, darker vibe. This is the kind of film where torches most definitely gutter and men call out directives “on the orders of the king!” But for all the weighty gravitas of Simon Russell Beale as a conniving bishop and Eddie Marsan as a conniving noble bring to bear, the story never takes the history seriously enough either. Read full review
40
EmpireNicola AustinSep 9, 2024
Alicia Vikander gives a graceful performance and the lavish period production shines, but unfortunately this is more fizzle-out than fire-starter. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 13, 2024
Law (and his director, Karim Aïnouz) might be laying it on thick, but his grotesque tyrant is the only thing lifting this dreary, ahistoric drama out of its narrative doldrums. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJun 10, 2024
Ultimately, in trying to make Katherine both a historical girlboss and a near-martyr to a vaguely articulated cause, Firebrand’s meandering, under-baked screenplay manages to neither have its cake nor eat it too. Read full review
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