Next Goal Wins
Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: November 17, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
19
Negative:
11
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzNov 17, 2023
Next Goal Wins exists as proof of the invulnerability of a certain movie template and as a Frankenstein patchwork of previous films. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkNov 15, 2023
Next Goal Wins feels like five different films, all of them failing to coalesce in an effective way because every 30 seconds the script thinks it has to crack wise. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 17, 2023
The overall flavor profile indicates that Waititi, whose own cartoonish appearance as a priest feels like an afterthought, has become bored with his signature brand of goofy uplift. Going by the unfunny self-referential gags (“The Karate Kid,” “The Matrix,” “Taken”), you’d swear the Oscar-winning filmmaker was struggling with the impulse to go full parody. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleAlejandra MartinezNov 15, 2023
It’s a shame that Waititi’s return to Indigenous-centered filmmaking is marred by regressive narrative choices and lazy jokes. Otherwise, we might have had a real winner on our hands. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreSep 11, 2023
There are a few funny sequences . . . But the film is otherwise so sloppily assembled, and so lazy, that it frequently ends up feeling like an inadvertent parody of the underdog-sports genre it belongs to. Read full review
25
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 20, 2023
It’s undeniably the worst film Waititi has ever produced, a hash of lazy jokes and “random” humor centered on one of the most uncomfortable lead performances I’ve ever seen in a comedy. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonNov 16, 2023
This film’s comic antics are relentless, exhausting, and devastatingly unfunny. Waititi’s script (co-written with Iain Morris) can’t go 30 seconds without attempting a laugh — and failing most of the time. Read full review
25
ObserverLaura BabiakNov 15, 2023
Next Goal Wins is an empty quasi-comedy, filled with cliche jokes and tired bits. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 22, 2023
After a while, it’s as if Thomas’s self-loathing begins to rub off on the script, which keeps undercutting should-be-resonant moments with smirking references to other films. Read full review
20
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisNov 16, 2023
Bland photography and perfunctory writing are the very least of my issues with Next Goal Wins, a movie-shaped stain on the class of entertainment known as the sports-underdog comedy. Read full review
20
SlashfilmBarry LevittSep 15, 2023
Next Goal Wins feels like it's made by a director out of ideas — it's a film made up of lazy, visually vacant, and soulless filmmaking. Read full review
More From This Movie

44 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL