Judy & Punch
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date (Streaming): June 5, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinKim HughesJun 5, 2020
Semi-comic tales don’t come blacker or more twisted than writer/director Mirrah Foulkes’ quietly electrifying Judy & Punch, which might be subtitled “When Scumbags Get Bigtime Comeuppance.” Read full review
85
Film ThreatAnthony Ray BenchApr 25, 2020
Judy and Punch is at times gut-bustingly hilarious, brutally uncomfortable, and joyously irreverent. Read full review
83
UproxxVince ManciniJun 18, 2020
Judy and Punch may not be as thought-provoking as it wants to be, but what it lacks in cultural critique it more than makes up for in escapism, eccentricity, and eye candy. It’s transporting, in every sense of the word, and it comes along just when we most seem to need it. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJun 6, 2020
Utterly bonkers but also sort of brilliant, Judy & Punch creates an origin story for the traditional British puppet show (usually known as Punch and Judy,) resulting in a tonally complex comedy-drama about spousal abuse, infant mortality and misogyny told with magic tricks, puppets and slapstick. Read full review
80
The GuardianCath ClarkeJun 6, 2020
It’s a mouth-puckeringly tart movie that’s tonally in a world of its own – darkly disturbing, absurd, brutal and silly, with a batsqueak of bonkers. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 17, 2020
Wasikowska’s character arc is fun, Herriman makes a perfectly charming and vile villain, and the period detail in this Aussie production — more Brothers Grimm 16th century than the real thing — gives Judy & Punch the perfect stage to tell their satiric story without having to pull any you-know-whats. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeJun 6, 2020
There’s a savage, sometimes surreal wit to this anarchic tale of violence and revenge; it’s an eye catching first feature from actress Mirrah Foulkes, and an intriguingly eccentric addition to an already offbeat CV for Wasikowska. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyJun 6, 2020
The core narrative is rather simple, and the political metaphor not especially subtle. But the overall concept, from Foulkes and her trio of story collaborators, has a bracingly original air, from the film’s period anachronisms to its impressive design elements. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 6, 2020
Wasikowska is outstanding. She’s got the most-interesting character arc, and she plays Judy at all stages of the story with a genuineness that never wavers, whether it’s as the quiet, put-upon secret weapon of the puppet show or the woman she becomes, which is something far from where she begins. Read full review
70
TheWrapSteve PondJun 5, 2020
The film is both a deconstruction of myth and a twisted origin story for a slapsticky form of puppetry that was quite popular a couple hundred years ago, but it’s also a gory little bit of provocation that makes fun of bloodthirsty audiences but might appeal to some of them as well. Read full review
67
The Film StageJordan RaupJun 6, 2020
Putting a modern, live-action spin on this fable-esque puppet tale, director Mirrah Foulkes crafts a vibrant, brutal directorial debut, even if the ultimate catharsis leaves something to be desired. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJun 5, 2020
Even at the movie's silliest and most unsteady moments, she's (Wasikowska) the ballast: a Judy bruised but unbowed — and finally, fully ready to punch back. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 4, 2020
For all of its low-key revisionism and post-modern flourish (most explicit during a kung-fu style training montage set to Leonard Cohen and a funny “Gladiator” reference that lands at a pivotal moment), Foulkes’ confident and kooky feature debut is less interested in subverting its source material than in continuing the puppet show’s long tradition of keeping with the times. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJun 5, 2020
The debut feature from Australian writer/director Mirrah Foulkes eventually provides enough of a revenge fantasy to satisfy, even if the road there is a bit windy and bumpy. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 2, 2020
Part revisionist history and part deeply grim fairy tale, writer-director Mirrah Foulkes’s feature debut wants to be as clever as it is fiendish, as funny as it is dark, and as progressive as it is exploitative – but such goals collide instead of coalesce. Read full review
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