Paper Tiger
Neon | Release Date: November 13, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
8
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
91
The Film StageLuke HicksMay 20, 2026
Paper Tiger is a welcome addition to the oeuvre and one that has potential to mature into something even greater. The man simply knows how to tell a New York story. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyMay 21, 2026
Visually, Paper Tiger recreates grimy late-1980s New York with exquisite period detail. Gray’s long-standing questioning of masculine braggadocio and the fallacy of the American dream remains one of the richest seams in US cinema. Read full review
80
IONCINEMA.comNicholas BellMay 17, 2026
Paper Tiger is partially a film about ‘more money, more problems,’ but also, quite powerfully, a study on how the tantalizing facade of the American Dream is an express elevator to hell for anyone who desires to outstrip the fate of their economic realities. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreMay 17, 2026
Driver ably brings the heartbreak in Paper Tiger, though Johansson’s no slouch in a less ornate but no less harrowing role. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 17, 2026
It’s a meaty drama with big scenes and big but carefully considered performances: a really substantial piece of work from Gray. Read full review
80
TheWrapSteve PondMay 17, 2026
Paper Tiger is still a thriller, because the events that play out on screen wouldn’t allow it not to be. But rarely do you find a thriller with this much heart. 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
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