Firestarter
Universal Pictures | Release Date: May 13, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
12
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatMichael Talbot-HaynesMay 14, 2022
There is plenty of good meat on the bone here for the hungriest horror hounds. If you have some time to burn, the new Firestarter is definitely worth it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 13, 2022
Directed with a more fittingly dark, austere, horror-movie vibe by Keith Thomas and featuring grounded performances from an excellent cast headed by Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon and newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong, this Firestarter is a combustible supernatural thriller that embraces its borderline campy qualities and works well enough as 21st century drive-in escapist fare. Read full review
67
ColliderAlyse WaxMay 12, 2022
I think this would be best enjoyed by someone who had never seen the original 1984 film; that way, you won’t be constantly comparing the two in your head. Read full review
54
PolygonKatie RifeMay 13, 2022
Firestarter 2022 is a marginal improvement on the ’84 original, if only because it has a handful of redeeming qualities rather than virtually none at all. Read full review
50
IGNMatt FowlerMay 16, 2022
Despite solid performances from Zac Efron and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Firestarter feels stifled in story and presentation. Read full review
50
Paste MagazineMatt DonatoMay 13, 2022
It’s a remake that lacks identity, urgency and enthusiasm—such a shame after Keith Thomas’ outstanding horror debut. Read full review
50
Original-CinThom ErnstMay 13, 2022
I saw Firestarter at a late-night screening. A person in the audience talked loudly on their phone for much of the film's second half. No one asked them to stop. No one cared. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaMay 13, 2022
Firestarter isn't offensively bad. It's not likely to make you angry, or have you calling it the worst dang thing you've ever seen. But it is aggressively average, bordering on mediocre. There's nothing fiery here. It's lukewarm at best. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 13, 2022
While it has a few genuine scares (cat lovers will want to avert their eyes for one horrific scene), it never achieves the deliriously freaky heights one expects from a film version of one of King’s cheesier novels. Read full review
42
IndieWireChristian ZilkoMay 13, 2022
Director Keith Thomas and writer Scott Teems found a way to turn the fun source material into a lethargic parenting drama that’s completely devoid of warmth. Read full review
42
ConsequenceJesse HassengerMay 12, 2022
Is it better for a Stephen King franchise to burn out or fade away? Firestarter manages to do both at once. Read full review
40
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiMay 16, 2022
Sadly, this adaptation fails to stand out from all the other sci-fi horrors about people being used for experiments. It doesn't even compare to the original 1984 film nor does it stand tall alongside great recent Stephen King adaptations like 2017's IT and 2019's Doctor Sleep. Firestarter is more like Pet Sematary and Carrie, a dull, exhausting remake that doesn't do anything new. Read full review
40
EmpireA.A. DowdMay 13, 2022
Only a thrilling throwback synth score from John Carpenter keeps this inferior, modernised take on Firestarter off the lower end of a list of Stephen King adaptations. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 13, 2022
The whole thing plays like “Logan” done in the worst humdrum rhythmless made-for-streaming generic style, the lighting flat, the soundtrack heavy with John Carpenter’s old-school one-man-at-the-synthesizer horror music, because if you took that sound of processed dread away you wouldn’t have much else. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMay 12, 2022
When it’s a cautionary tale about an unusual family who’ll never know a moment’s peace because of their past choices, Firestarter is worthy of its source material. When in its last half-hour it turns into chapter one of a potential new superhero franchise, it joins the long list of Stephen King movies that are all gimmick, no guts. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineRocco T. ThompsonMay 13, 2022
This new Firestarter is an almost anachronistically short production whose elements just sit there like mishandled kindling. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 13, 2022
Few authors have been as badly victimized by Hollywood as King; this is just another title to add to the list. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 12, 2022
What starts out feeling lean and stylishly stripped-down, with a faintly-creepy young lead, waters her down and winds up playing cut-rate, abridged and cheap. Read full review
30
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMay 13, 2022
This movie brushes aside a lot of things — the most shocking thing about it is how soggily noncommittal it is. Read full review
30
CNNBrian LowryMay 13, 2022
A new do-over that can barely generate enough heat to qualify as a thriller. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubRichard NewbyMay 13, 2022
The best thing that can be said about this new iteration of Firestarter is that it at least gave us a new score by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel A. Davies. The rest feels like a waste of a talented cast and crew that somehow, against all odds, makes the 1984 film seem like a staggering achievement in the realm of King adaptations. Read full review
25
The Associated PressLindsey BahrMay 13, 2022
There wasn’t a great reason to take another shot at Firestarter. Besides, even if it’s lacking in originality, it’s also lacking something even more important: A personality. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMay 13, 2022
A film that goes through the motions with such apathetic predictability and pure cinematic laziness that you may want to set whatever device you’re watching it on ablaze. Read full review
23
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiMay 13, 2022
The new Firestarter is a lot like the old Firestarter, if the old Firestarter was duller, cheaper, and devoid of almost all meaning. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMay 17, 2022
Nothing here really works. Even a surprisingly flat score from horror master John Carpenter (who was originally slated to direct the '84 version) can't save Firestarter from being a colossal misfire. Read full review
20
Rolling StoneJason BaileyMay 16, 2022
The effects are dodgy and unconvincing. The emotional investment is nil. The running time is only 94 minutes long, thus proving there may, in fact, be a merciful higher power out there. It’s still a four-alarm disaster. Read full review
20
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMay 13, 2022
No one here seems to know what they’re doing and, more importantly, why. A strong contender for 2022’s most pointless movie. Read full review
16
The PlaylistRobert DanielsMay 13, 2022
It’s unsettling how every minute of this 94-minute flick delivers a new level of boredom. You have to feel for the actors. Read full review
10
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 13, 2022
Perhaps what’s most dispiriting about this Firestarter is how visually impoverished it is. Read full review
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