Gazer
Metrograph Pictures | Release Date: April 4, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireChristian ZilkoJun 5, 2024
Gazer might be inspired by New Hollywood, but its existence is almost reason to believe that a similar filmmaking renaissance could be on the horizon. Read full review
90
The Irish TimesTara BradyJul 25, 2025
Lo-fi, disarmingly intense, and shot on textured 16mm by cinematographer Matheus Bastos, this impressive debut feature casts a twitchy, retro shadow over the less salubrious parts of New Jersey. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comIsaac Feldberg Apr 4, 2025
Shaping their film in the destabilizing isolation of COVID, Mastroianni and Sloan conjure from their native New Jersey an evanescent realm, all empty husks and outskirts, where people are slowly swallowed up and buildings linger like phantom limbs, no longer quite there but still full of feeling. They make that place palpable with a vision that feels at once ingenious and highly genuine. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 25, 2025
Gazer’s atmosphere of looming disaster and dreamlike oppression crowds in on you as the movie progresses; an intriguing, genuinely scary picture. Read full review
80
PolygonToussaint EganApr 11, 2025
In the end, Sloan’s film coheres into a confident psychological thriller that’s more than the sum of its influences. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreApr 5, 2025
If Gazer doesn’t pick up the momentum needed to match Frankie’s increasingly dire situation, it’s nevertheless a pleasure to watch — a project that feels, like its heroine, unstuck in time, reminiscent of a whole other, more vibrant era of American independent cinema when the films themselves were the point and not just calling cards for a bigger commercial opportunity. Read full review
80
The Daily BeastNick SchagerApr 3, 2025
Energized by Ariella Mastroianni’s disoriented and frazzled lead performance, it begins unnervingly and ends, like all such sagas should, with haunting bleakness. Read full review
75
The PlaylistBrian FarvourApr 4, 2025
As Frankie, Mastroianni carries the film, and what could be considered an emotionless expression she wears nonstop carries far more than one realizes as the events unfold and whatever exists in Frankie’s life starts to unravel. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 14, 2025
When its cinematic influences aren’t so obvious and its story particulars aren’t distractingly fuzzy, this earnestly moody film serves notice that indie urban noir can still be a potent calling card for up-and-coming talents. Read full review
70
Screen RantMary KasselApr 2, 2025
If Sloan and Mastroianni made Gazer with only their limited resources and spark to create something new, it bodes well for the filmmakers' futures and whatever their next project will be. Read full review
70
ColliderIsabella SoaresApr 2, 2025
With a limited budget and a lot of dedication to the craft, the project is able to build on its references to thrillers from the '70s and '80s while finding its own footing. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenApr 2, 2025
Gazer owes an enormous debt to a few obvious influences, but the movie has just enough vision and atmosphere of its own for the makings of an unnerving, lo-fi, neo-noir. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiApr 1, 2025
The main character’s condition feels like a dramatically dubious attempt to shroud the somewhat spindly nature of the film’s plot. Read full review
62
Paste MagazineJim VorelJan 28, 2025
Metrograph Pictures’ Gazer is effectively a neo-noir mystery, one with heavy 1980s and especially 1970s stylistic trappings, with elements of surrealistic horror dancing on the edges. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 3, 2025
There’s an amusing, low-fi thriller here amid what prove to be too many twists and thickets of cinematic allusion. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterAngie HanJun 5, 2024
As painstakingly crafted as this mystery-thriller is, it remains something to be admired from a distance rather than felt viscerally. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubAlex LeiApr 2, 2025
There is certainly talent in front of and behind the camera, although it works more like a demonstration rather than reaching for something more compelling. Read full review
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