Paper Tiger
Neon | Release Date: TBA CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
88
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMay 16, 2026
Paper Tiger may be built from recognizable Gray pieces, but he keeps finding new variations inside the same mournful blues. The result is familiar in outline, but authentic, poignant, and quietly devastating. Read full review
100
TimeStephanie ZacharekMay 16, 2026
In places, this picture is wrenchingly tense, as if Gray were discovering a gift he didn’t know he had, playing on the audience’s nerves the way you’d gently tighten the pegs on a violin. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 16, 2026
Gray and his superb cast are in blazing form and full command here in a bruising movie that reveals the heavy price of pursuing the American Dream too recklessly. Read full review
100
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 16, 2026
Gray is no stranger to saga about fraternal strains, but never has he so forcefully tugged at the ties that bind, or more sensitively observed how they can suffocate an entire family when a certain force pulls on them hard enough. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 16, 2026
As is often the case with this writer-director, Gray’s film has a dim view of the American Dream but, if some of the script’s contours are familiar, Paper Tiger’s quiet intensity and growing sibling tension make it a compelling experience. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 16, 2026
Gray’s film is itself no paper tiger – yes, it’s a fondly conceived throwback, but its claws are real. Read full review
60
Next Best PictureMatt NegliaMay 16, 2026
There are flashes throughout of the filmmaker at his absolute best, enough to remind audiences why Gray remains one of America’s most compelling storytellers, but taken as a whole, Paper Tiger ultimately feels like a lesser entry in his filmography, let alone the crime genre, which he has dabbled in on more than one occasion. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 16, 2026
The movie is engineered to be seen as “powerful.” Right now, though, I’d say that he’s an ace director who’s still being undercut by the holes in his screenplays. Read full review
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88 Critic Reviews

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