Only the Animals
Cohen Media Group | Release Date: October 29, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiOct 29, 2021
By and large, though, Only the Animals is an effectively convincing slow-burn thriller that marks the welcome return of Moll, who first made a splash with the wickedly entertaining thriller With a Friend Like Harry. Read full review
80
VarietyMark KeizerOct 28, 2021
Ultimately, Moll’s film is a cautionary tale for the lonely among us, a reminder that one step away from idealizing romance lies the risk of becoming a fool for love, which just might get you killed. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 28, 2021
Moll has given us this audacious, witty and absorbing mystery thriller, a tale of adultery and amour fou with a gamey touch of the macabre. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeOct 28, 2021
Few will complain about the delicious perplexities of the opening hour. The film’s focus on the sadness of remote lives – everyone here seems alone – adds satisfactory emotional ballast. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 28, 2021
This is film-making that really tests the elasticity of its story strands, but it largely manages to keep the audience from teetering into disbelief. For the most part, that’s thanks to persuasively solid characters and casting. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 28, 2021
The film’s addictive patterning draws us into its cycles of obsession as hungry observers: each part dispenses only as much new information as Moll wants to give away. Read full review
80
Time OutDave CalhounOct 28, 2021
What unites the interlocking stories are their flashes of love and longing – often painfully, tragically unreturned. The film’s emotional side is well-handled, helped by strong performances across the board. But it’s the storytelling puzzle – the pile-up of different perspectives and gradual reveal of the facts – that makes it most worthwhile. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellOct 28, 2021
Only the Animals remains a highly satisfying and gripping thriller that, like the best of them, finds the time to properly contemplate the depths of its dominoes as they are arranged before the capricious hand of chance gleefully knocks them down, one by one. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerNov 3, 2021
Some might find the characters written with heavy cynicism. I’d rather see their desperate pursuits as poignant and comically human, even if the film’s tone is dark. These are lonely people seeking love. It’s not that complicated. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerOct 28, 2021
Moll crafts a seemingly simple plot that gets increasingly tangled as it jumps from one character to another, taking some rather surprising turns but managing to make sense of it all by the last scene. Read full review
60
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganOct 28, 2021
Moll is a director who is adept when it comes to loading the screen with tension; actors swerve in from the side of the frame, silhouetted against the plateau, all playing characters who are clearly not walking a straight line mentally. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleOct 28, 2021
If it sounds critical to say that the resolution of the murder at the center of the narrative is the least interesting aspect of the movie’s intrigue, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 28, 2021
The multiple viewpoints are just a clever, self-satisfied device to deliver stale goods and familiar ugliness with a soupçon of glib class politics. Read full review
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