Her Smell
Gunpowder & Sky | Release Date: April 12, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
ConsequenceDan CaffreyMar 11, 2019
Perry’s kinetic style and Moss’ explosive performance transform it into something that feels more authentic than actual history. Read full review
91
The Film StageKyle PletcherOct 3, 2018
Her Smell goes beyond the expected trappings of your usual rock drama and successfully manages to capture the convulsive core of musical artistry while suggesting, in a major departure for the usually cynical Alex Ross Perry, that it’s possible for the individual to break free of its corrosive bonds. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 10, 2019
Moss strips away every shred of her charm to reveal her charisma in its rawest state, implicating Perry and the audience in a voyeurism that can feel almost holy. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 3, 2018
Much of Her Smell, especially these backstage scenes, border on unintelligible, with numerous exchanges getting lost in the chaos. I found this to be incredibly, teeth-grindingly effective — this is a thoroughly subjective depiction of mental illness and substance abuse, and the accurate relay of information often takes a backseat in the throes of such a state. Read full review
90
Screen DailyWendy IdeSep 12, 2018
Wildly uneven, sporadically brilliant, occasionally unbearable, Alex Ross Perry’s sprawling portrait of a self-destructive rock star is carried by a performance by Elisabeth Moss which is turned all the way up to eleven, and beyond. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenApr 16, 2019
It’s as if Moss is directing the movie through her performance. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 11, 2019
Moss attacks the role with a fearless lack of vanity, daring to make this nosediving rock star not just unlikable but downright irritating — as hard to endure as chipped nails dragging slowly down a chalkboard. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 12, 2018
If all of Perry’s stories have been hard to stomach, Her Smell takes things to impressive new lows before hitting bottom and tunneling out through the other side. It’s truly one of the most noxious movies ever made, which might help to explain why it’s also Perry’s best. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 10, 2019
Her Smell is a berserker infused a mad poetry. In her third film with Perry, following "Listen Up," "Phillip and Queen of the Earth," Moss takes a character who makes Courtney Love look like Mother Teresa and exposes the shards of humanity that once vitalized and defined her music. The effect is shattering. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 17, 2019
Yet the genius of Her Smell is that it's not about Becky. It's about the chaos she causes. Moss and Perry could let her dominate the frame as she does the room, but each sequence is about how everyone else deals with the damage she leaves behind. Read full review
77
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 12, 2019
It’s got grit and power, not to mention great fake-band songs by Alicia Bognanno and Anika Pyle. And as a movie about learning to balance youthful creativity and adult responsibilities, it’s leagues better than what Disney did to Perry’s “Christopher Robin” script. Put this one on your playlist. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 18, 2019
The movie’s one flaw, a notable one, is that the first hour is better than the second. The first is jaw-dropping. In the second half, the film slow downs somewhat, but by then, the audience is hooked into the movie’s reality, so there’s no turning away. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartApr 10, 2019
Elisabeth Moss is a primal, predatory force in Her Smell, a female-centric spin on the classic debauched rock star story. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 9, 2019
The supporting cast is game and Moss is riveting, transformed and transforming before our eyes, and not just in a “rock bod” vs. “mom bod” sense. She never lets Her Smell turn boring and her scent is what lingers after the credits have rolled. Read full review
75
The PlaylistVictor StiffSep 12, 2018
Perry combines a knock-out cast with an incisive script for a wild-eyed musical-drama with poignant themes. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 18, 2019
Stretched over 135 minutes and overloaded with shout-to-the-rafters confrontations, Her Smell has too much talking and squawking, and not enough rocking and rolling. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyApr 12, 2019
Don’t expect to go into writer/director Alex Ross Perry’s sixth feature Her Smell, a suffocating plunge into a female musician’s deteriorating world, and come out with calm instead of chaos. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineGreg CwikSep 25, 2018
A story of filth and fury and, eventually, of placidity and peace, Her Smell is Alex Ross Perry’s most chaotic and unmuffled film — until it isn’t. Read full review
60
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 11, 2019
Her Smell is an uneven movie, occasionally dipping into clichés. But Moss’s performance works as a distillation of one of Love’s signature lines, from the song “Doll Parts”: Becky knows what it costs to be the girl with the most cake. Read full review
60
The GuardianGwilym MumfordSep 12, 2018
Her Smell is built around a performance of near-unwatchable toxicity by Elisabeth Moss, who channels a combination of Courtney Love and Heath Ledger’s Joker with her spiteful, slowly imploding rock star. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattApr 11, 2019
What it does have at the center is an actress who commits completely to the mess, even if Perry never quite deigns to show us the underlying talent that might justify her terrible behavior — or at least the loyalty of the countless friends, fans, and enablers who suffer the brunt of it. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 16, 2019
Mostly, this is a problem of storytelling, not acting. Moss is riveting, even if the material is not. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorSep 12, 2018
[A] bafflingly unbalanced film by American auteur director Alex Ross Perry. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 12, 2018
In what does have to be perversely honored as some kind of special accomplishment for Moss as a performer, Becky sustains such an abusive, mad, pathetic and immature display for well over an hour that you just want to bolt. What edification can possibly be gotten from such a grotesque form of exhibitionism? Read full review
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