Hot Milk
IFC Films | Release Date: June 27, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageSavina PetkovaFeb 24, 2026
Rarely has maternal trauma been so well-dramatized on the big screen with zest, humor, and genuine appreciation of the ambivalence baked into these relationships. Read full review
80
The IndependentGeoffrey MacnabJul 10, 2025
This is slippery, subversive storytelling that’s very hard to get any firm grasp on – but that is one of its main pleasures. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowJun 27, 2025
The isolation of the setting, the elliptical dialogue, the inserts of apparently archival anthropological images, and a spare score, sometimes just one sustained note, all give “Hot Milk” a dreamlike quality, the kind of dreams that, at least while we’re dreaming, make more sense than reality. Read full review
60
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsJul 2, 2025
It looks good, it sounds good, the actors are giving it their all, and yet… it never properly gels. Read full review
60
Screen DailyWendy IdeMay 29, 2025
Hot Milk lacks some of the lush, heady symbolism of the book, and opts for a less teasingly ambiguous approach to the storytelling. Mackey, however, impresses, as a woman driven to distraction by the neediness and manipulation of those around her. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 29, 2025
The fierce sinew of Shaw’s performance gives the film some shape and keeps it grounded. Mackey and Krieps, both formidable performers, give the film their presence and force. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 24, 2026
I wish I could say I found Hot Milk affecting, but it’s continually dragged down by inertia, by a writer-director whose approach is too intellectual to give space to emotion. Read full review
50
ColliderTaylor GatesJun 29, 2025
The sluggish pacing and lack of specific characterization make it feel longer than its hour-and-a-half runtime, though the strong performances and beautiful cinematography are just enough to keep it from ever becoming a total slog. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 26, 2025
A startling beauty who radiates both intelligence and a teenager-like surliness, Mackey is Hot Milk’s main point of interest and its stable anchor. She makes a meal of the scraps meted out about Sofia’s backstory, her inner thoughts, and motivations – which is what makes the film’s final moments so rankling. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 29, 2025
The film unfolds in a dreamy, liminal place in Sofia’s personal evolution, but lacks the tangible sense of vicariously experiencing it ourselves — a shame, since it’s a splendid location in which to be doing such intensive self-healing. Read full review
50
IndieWireRyan LattanzioMay 29, 2025
Hot Milk dribbles when it should feel crisper, less torpid, but that’s perhaps to match the inner decay of everyone onscreen, and the metastasis of the most interminable vacation ever known. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyJul 10, 2025
Just when it’s threatening to pay off, it ends, with an experimental cliffhanger, not Levy’s idea. It reminds us – by simply not working – that abrupt, unresolved endings are the hardest kind to earn. Read full review
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