Pierrepoint
IFC First Take | Release Date: June 1, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
British actor Timothy Spall gives a shattering performance as Albert Pierrepoint. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The key to the film is in the performances by Spall and Stevenson -- and by Marsan. The utter averageness of the characters, their lack of insight, their normality, contrasts with the subject matter in an unsettling way. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
At once desperately grim and unnervingly gripping, providing an exacting sense of the detail and procedure that went into death by hanging. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This measured bio-production might be viewed as a lesser companion piece to "Vera Drake" -- although in the case of Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman, all the period-piece tastefulness makes for a story more instructive than emotionally tangible. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
This is a riveting story about a man who for years moonlighted as an anonymous hangman while holding a day job as a wholesale grocery delivery man. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kamal AL-Solaylee
Invites viewers to think critically about such weighty concepts as justice, atonement and personal accountability. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Like its hero, the movie doesn't flinch for most of its running time. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Like most television directors, Shergold is good with actors. Jowly, impassive and rigid with righteous dignity, Timothy Spall makes a wonderfully meticulous Pierrepoint. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Pierrepoint is worth seeing for Shergold's attention to process and for all the ghoulish details. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
In Pierrepoint:The Last Hangman Timothy Spall sinks his teeth into one of the juiciest roles of his career. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This 2005 feature has a drab "Masterpiece Theatre" feel, though Pierrepoint is a fascinating study in ethics: he takes pride in his work, wants his victims to die swiftly and painlessly, and considers hanging an absolution. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Dramatizes and occasionally overdramatizes Albert's 24-year career. For a while, it's a study of a decent man who puts his life into compartments so he can do terrible deeds. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Pierrepoint is handsomely crafted and well-acted, but its sense of scale is as constricted as a noose. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
You have to wonder just how true to life the melodramatic depiction of these events is, especially since the film was made in partnership with TV's "Masterpiece Theater." Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A peculiar little film -- grim and disturbing yet perversely riveting. Read full review
More From This Movie

68 Critic Reviews

7.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL