Heel
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 6, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The TimesEd PottonMar 18, 2026
Boon’s already considerable charisma is somehow magnified by Tommy’s incarceration and Graham and Riseborough prove yet again that they can find humanity in even the most disturbing characters. Please let this not be their last joint project. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 5, 2026
The movie’s ironies and cruelties clatter across the screen, but Komasa also allows the audience to consider who it is Chris really wants to train. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 5, 2026
Infused with the D.N.A. of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971), Heel is an uneasy study of subjugation and transformation. Rock-solid performances from Boon and Graham maintain its precarious balance between anxiety and absurdity. Read full review
75
TheWrapMatthew CreithMar 5, 2026
Good Boy is doggone exceptional when it comes to the powerhouse acting abilities of Graham and Boon, both of whom take on their roles to showcase opposite ends of the rehabilitation spectrum. But even with talent at the helm both in front of and behind the camera, Kosama’s disjointed thriller is predictable throughout and never reaches the emotionality it seeks from its audience. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeMar 1, 2026
By keeping some of its cards close to its chest, Heel respects our intelligence, which helps it to earn its sneakily moving ending. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMar 9, 2026
Under Komasa’s direction, the mix of fractured fable and terroristic morality play in Bartek Bartosik’s screenplay is absurd but potent, giving Heel enough psychologically twisted juju to nearly always feel like more than the sum of its parts. Read full review
70
Screen DailyNikki BaughanMar 5, 2026
There’s something deeply compelling about this deliberately odd, carefully-calibrated neo-gothic fable, which suggests that rehabilitation can be found in the darkest of places, and that true freedom is simply a matter of trust. Read full review
67
IndieWireRyan LattanzioMar 9, 2026
You might wish Heel were a bit funnier, a bit scarier, a bit more twisted, but it’s still pungently creepy in the right ways and anchored by a suite of top-tier actors capable of wringing empathy out of the darkest Freudian corners of a fucked-up family. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubBrianna ZiglerMar 5, 2026
Heel wants to have its cake and eat it too, to present this darkly comic absurdity while dipping back into reality only when it suits the film. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsMar 18, 2026
It’s lifted by some very convincing performances. Read full review
60
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannMar 5, 2026
Thankfully, Boon, Graham, and Riseborough do enough to anchor the film and bring it home as it lands on a strangely poignant note both chilling and endearing. Read full review
60
ColliderEmma KielyMar 5, 2026
What keeps the movie going when the script starts to run out of ink are the brilliant performances all around. Read full review
60
Radio TimesJames MottramMar 5, 2026
The final act doesn't quite pay off, with characters' motives left frustratingly opaque, but the film is blessed with cast-iron performances, especially from Graham and Boon. Read full review
50
Little White LiesBillie WalkerMar 24, 2026
Despite Boon matching Graham’s quiet intensity and Riseborough’s low frequency depression with a gnashing rebellious streak, the three performances can’t lift The Good Boy from the limitations of its own tethered melodrama. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterAngie HanMar 12, 2026
If the concept has a way of grabbing one’s attention, however, the execution proves too uneven to leave a lasting impression. Though Good Boy gets by for a while on the strength of its performances and the sheer oddness of its plot, the flimsiness of its characters drains the film of energy long before its 110 minutes are up. Read full review
40
Next Best PictureGiovanni LagoMar 5, 2026
Just when things begin to feel like they’re leading somewhere, it dissipates in such an inorganic manner. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comJourdain SearlesMar 9, 2026
Like many genre films this decade, “Heel” feels glaringly incomplete. Read full review
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