Kings & Queen
Wellspring Media | Release Date: May 13, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyDeborah Young
This enjoyable French pic welds together drama, melodrama and comedy. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
It's hugely ambitious, with a sweeping range of character types, frequently shifting moods, stylistic flourishes of many kinds, and some mighty wry satire, aimed largely at the world of psychotherapy. Read full review
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
With all his artifice, his prodigious narrative risks and seemingly undisciplined mélange of styles and tones, Desplechin has made a film that feels more like real life than anything I've seen in years, from any source. It's a masterpiece. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Kings and Queen, full of passion and humor, madness and grief, is close to a masterpiece. It's like life: messy, impossible, elating, unavoidable. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Desplechin fearlessly dives into raw, bitter revelations and surfaces with hope as our heroes try again to get it right. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Gripping, highly original. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJim Healy
Arnaud Desplechin's best movie to date. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
This extravagant family melodrama, one of the highlights of last year's New York Film Festival, runs two and a half hours and never lags, so moment-to-moment enthralling are Desplechin's narrative gambits, as well as his reckless eccentricity. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A remarkable though sometimes frustrating film.
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
He gives these characters the time to develop, to display their nuances, to establish their relationships with each other, to talk out their destinies. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle Smith
A long, messy cinematic novel full of hate, love, murder, ghosts, madness, poetry and Catherine Deneuve. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film is a tower of literary and cinematic references, tangential yet somehow essential characters, and one fantastic performance after another. It's a simple movie yet is anything but. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It is well-acted and written with a rigorous effort to skirt cliche, and it has the savor of real life throughout. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Late in his new film Kings and Queen, the wildly gifted French director Arnaud Desplechin yanks the rug from under his characters and sends both them and us reeling. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The kind of brainy human comedy that only this formidable French auteur seems capable of making. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
For all its hectic comings and goings, though, Kings & Queen is superbly controlled, gracefully shot and edited, and, for its entire 150 minutes, as engrossing as its meanings are opaque. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A complex, boldly experimental movie plotted like a thriller and paced like a farce, Kings and Queen is category-defying film that's as smart and emotionally resonant as it is entertaining. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Both these stories, which of course develop further, are more engaging than they may sound, because Desplechin directs them so intelligently and because they are so well acted. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
A true emotional epic. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Odd, complex and charming. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Arnaud Desplechin's sprawling drama exudes a go-for-broke determination that is frustrating and exhilarating. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A film that unfolds like a court case in which all of the testimony sounds like the simple truth, and none of it agrees. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Though overly long and difficult to digest, it's a feast you won't want to miss. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
At times compelling, at times devastating, and at times long-winded. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid Denby
This movie, however incomplete and frustrating, is also fully alive and extraordinarily intelligent. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Though frequently dazzling, Kings And Queen proves that a bunch of punchy singles don't necessarily make an album. Read full review
More From This Movie

85 Critic Reviews

8.0 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL