Lizzie
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: September 14, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
17
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TheWrapAlonso Duralde
Between the camerawork and the subtle performances, Lizzie could very easily have been a silent film while still telling its story as effectively. But Kass’ dialogue is terrific. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 11, 2018
Lizzie isn’t perfect — the pacing can flag, and the lovely Kim Dickens, as Lizzie’s older sister, barely registers — but Ms. Sevigny’s intelligence and formidable control keep the melodrama grounded. Her empathy for Borden, whose fragile constitution belies a searing will, is palpable, as is the sense of inescapable peril surrounding the two female leads. Read full review
80
The GuardianJordan Hoffman
[A] gripping, well-acted and sharply-written low-budget drama. Read full review
79
The VergeBryan Bishop
The movie is engrossing, with Sevigny delivering a fierce performance that inspires empathy in spite of — or perhaps because of — the awful things the audience knows Lizzie will eventually do. Read full review
75
Original-CinLiam LaceyOct 1, 2018
Something of an intriguing curio (the first feature film about a subject treated in song, poem, television and theatre), Lizzie has some memorable pluses and significant minuses. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorSep 28, 2018
There are only two erotic scenes between the two women, and Macneill, Sevigny and Stewart handle them with conviction: For all the horror of her situation, Lizzie needed some larger motivation to wield her axe. Lizzie dramatically provides it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSep 20, 2018
Directed with restraint by Craig William Macneill, Lizzie never quite gets to what made Lizzie Borden tick, but it’s possible no film ever could. But it remains an entirely watchable drama thanks in no small part to the charisma of its two lead women. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupSep 14, 2018
Rather than focusing on Lizzie as a figure out of a horror movie or creepy folk tale, she is portrayed as a woman who found liberty only through the death of her oppressors. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineHenry StewartSep 12, 2018
The film moves evenly toward a conclusion that feels as inevitable as it does inescapable, while providing a plausible framework for the still-mysterious true crime. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie Felperin
Not everything is spelled out too literally, and both the screenplay and Macneill's sensitive direction leave it to the lead actors to fill in the foreground colors. Read full review
68
IGNJim VejvodaSep 11, 2018
Ultimately, an artsy crime film like this depends on the power of its central performances and how compelling the story’s main point is. Sevigny and Stewart make a good team, keeping you invested in proceedings even when the narrative bogs down. Read full review
67
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerSep 12, 2018
Lizzie isn’t exactly an exciting film, but it’s absolutely a compelling one. Much of that, again, emerges from Sevigny’s work, who finds the notes of delicacy that the film around her occasionally lacks. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRuss Fischer
While [Chloe Sevigny's] work is commanding and a dedicated set of tough, engaged performances from the ensemble add life to the odd legend, awkward structural choices bleed away the film’s emotional punch long before the credits roll. Read full review
63
ObserverOliver JonesSep 20, 2018
There is a cool detachment to the presentation of the story that, while perhaps fitting for a movie about a crime so carefully calculated it defies imagination, nonetheless serves to undercut the film’s high stakes. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 19, 2018
The resulting movie is atmospheric and compelling, and it makes an empathetic case for Borden as an intelligent, passionate woman so stifled by her father and the suffocating society he represented that she lashed out (and then some). Read full review
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