Morgan
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: September 2, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
16
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenAug 29, 2016
The thrilling premise of Morgan eventually gets muddled amid standard thriller-action, blunting the intended impact of a final sequence that should produce chills, but instead merely provides information. Still, those seeking smart, edgy genre fare will find plenty to savor in this well-cast drama. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 2, 2016
It’s an attempt to wed philosophical science fiction concepts with bloody horror - a dubious endeavor that somehow works. The movie doesn’t seek to be a mindless gore-fest but neither does it show restraint when it comes to violence. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ellen BraitSep 1, 2016
This isn’t to say Scott doesn’t occassionally rely on classic scary-movie thrills – but, mostly, it concentrates on developing its intriguing narrative and believable characters. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshSep 1, 2016
The failure of Morgan is in its lack of restraint. The first half of the film is as tightly controlled as the lab facility, with small moments of foreshadowing planted expertly, if obviously. The second half descends into a violent bloodbath, and the twists in the story that lie just below the surface waiting to be discovered are spoken aloud, taken from theory to fact Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenAug 30, 2016
Anchored by Mara’s rigidly controlled performance and Taylor-Joy’s tremulous yet quietly menacing work, Morgan is an effective tension generator that unfortunately falls apart at the end. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 30, 2016
Is Morgan hardwired for violence, or is “she” just a synthetic naïf with a bloody glitch? Taylor-Joy and the rest of the ace cast make you care about the answer to that question. The script? Less so. Read full review
75
ConsequenceRandall ColburnAug 29, 2016
Morgan isn’t hard sci-fi. It isn’t trying to solve the questions that have suffused the genre since its inception. Rather, it couches those ever-more-timely concerns in scenes of high action and affecting character connection. Read full review
70
Village VoiceApril WolfeSep 1, 2016
Even if his film's plot is predictable, the younger Scott is returning the ensemble thriller to its roots with something far more important than an airtight story: compelling, well-drawn characters and the talented actors to play them. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerAug 31, 2016
The director, Luke Scott (son of Ridley), doesn’t exactly elevate this material, but he does see it through. The voice of Brian Cox goads the action into Bourne territory to counter its "Ex Machina" overtones, but the movie works best when it riffs away from its antecedents into even more pitiless territory. Read full review
65
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 30, 2016
Whatever its flaws, this is a rare genre movie that allows two women — both Mara and Taylor-Joy are coolly riveting, particularly when they’re playing off each other — to take center stage in both the drama and the action, both of which get pretty intense. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniSep 1, 2016
Anya Taylor-Joy, who delivered a heartrending breakout performance in "The Witch," is entrancing as this exotic being, Morgan. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeSep 2, 2016
What Morgan lacks in philosophy and ideas, it makes up for in bone-crunching violence. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 1, 2016
Scott does a nice job with the first part of the film, setting the stage for what is ultimately a disappointing conclusion. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonSep 1, 2016
A mixed bag of a thriller that exploits two primal fears—of artificial intelligence, and precocious children. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 1, 2016
In order for the trick of the film to work, however, one must hold Morgan to a standard that the movie is unlikely to live up to. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubSep 1, 2016
The film tries to split the difference between thoughtful science fiction and action-driven horror, and blows the chance to truly succeed at either. Morgan is an enjoyable enough experience in the moment, but it never quite coalesces. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaSep 1, 2016
My diagnosis of why Morgan malfunctions as a chilling plunge into blood-splattered mayhem is that, before the midway point, it is pretty obvious what the eventual outcome and supposed big reveal will be. This is not the fault of the actors necessarily — there are highly respected talents involved here. It is just that we have seen most of this unfold before. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoSep 1, 2016
At its best, the movie is provocative, sleekly assured, and a legit showcase for its intriguingly deep ensemble Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganAug 30, 2016
As more information is dispensed - much of it in a rush in the final shots – the strength of Owen’s screenplay becomes clear but the issues it raises are largely left un-examined. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 29, 2016
It’s little more than a schlock replay of “Ex Machina.” It toys around with some of the same situations, but it doesn’t know where to take them. Instead of developing its themes, it uses them as grist for an overload of “commercial” action. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaAug 29, 2016
The film's makers lose trust in the intellectual heft of their material and chose to prioritize empty sensation instead. Read full review
42
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonSep 22, 2016
When no one is making believable choices, who cares who’s human? It’s all just lines of script. Read full review
42
The Film StageMichael SnydelAug 30, 2016
Morgan struggles to make even a single fight between two people not look like it was edited with a shredder. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsAllen SalkinSep 8, 2016
A lot makes me uneasy about where biology and technology are going. But Great Scott! Is Morgan really the best you can do? Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'HaraSep 5, 2016
It’s well designed and shot, but in service of a story that never coalesces into something intelligent or compelling. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 1, 2016
Dipping no more than a toenail in the philosophical waters surrounding personhood, the movie is at once ideologically vague and maddeningly self-serious. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 1, 2016
It’s bland enough to serve as a kind of palate cleanser at the end of a long and punishing moviegoing summer. Read full review
37
The VergeTasha RobinsonAug 29, 2016
This is a familiar tale: man creates monster, monster runs amuck, man regrets playing God. It's just never remotely clear what Scott and Owen found so compelling about this story that they wanted to tell it again, without meaningful variations, and in the immediate wake of better, smarter, more thrilling versions. Read full review
25
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 4, 2016
The story sets up a clumsy psycho-sexual dynamic and a faux family, but the film doesn’t develop those. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithSep 1, 2016
A dull, listless, derivative chunk of celluloid lacking any spark or even basic storytelling ability. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 1, 2016
The only thing worse than the first three-quarters of Morgan is the supposed payoff, which veers from the dumb to the really dumb to the so-dumb-you’ll-hardly-believe-it. This is one of the worst movies of 2016. Read full review
25
IndieWireKate ErblandAug 29, 2016
The film mistakes stiff, literally buttoned up acting — you’ve never seen so many starched and fully done up dress shirts in one film in your entire life — as somehow being clever, but there’s scarcely a moment of Morgan that is genuinely shocking (though the undercurrents with Amy are at least unnerving). Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAug 31, 2016
The entire plot exists for the sole purpose of the yawning revelation in the film’s last five minutes. Read full review
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