Please Baby Please
Music Box Films | Release Date: October 28, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
CineVueChristopher MachellApr 1, 2023
In politics and the media, opportunistic hate-mongers whip up bigotry against gender non-conformity, while everyone in contemporary cinema is beautiful but no one is horny. In this context, Please Baby Please is a vision inspired by the past, but is undoubtedly a document of the present. Read full review
85
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpNov 2, 2022
Kramer’s filmmaking is vibrant, vital, easy to swallow while retaining astounding verbal density; you may wish for subtitles and a notepad to follow along with the near-constant back-and-forth between her characters. But that’s a feature, not a bug. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMar 9, 2023
The movie is in some ways an exaggerated spoof of mid-20th century pop culture — and, in more profound ways, an explication of how greaser fashion, jazz clubs, beatnik poetry and complicated hairdos once gave repressed Americans a vent for their unspoken desires. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlex SavelievSep 30, 2022
Those seeking more adventurous, cerebral, inspired stuff will get a helluva kick. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeSep 30, 2022
Any film which features Demi Moore breathily vamping her way through an appreciation for her dishwasher and which permits Andrea Riseborough to deliver a performance as gloriously OTT as this one has plenty to recommend it. Read full review
80
VarietyManuel BetancourtSep 30, 2022
Kramer sketches out a feverish queer manifesto on gender that feels both novel and familiar. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneOct 26, 2022
Of those who will seek this out, they’re either going to really dig it or just absolutely loathe it. There is no middle ground here, but Riseborough’s performance deserves to be seen by everyone. Read full review
75
The Film StageDan MeccaOct 28, 2022
Kramer and Riseborough are clearly on the same wavelength, both understanding that though the representation in Please, Baby, Please is important, it is most vital the film be entertaining. In both respects they find success. Read full review
70
Little White LiesMarina AshiotiApr 2, 2023
The performances at the core of the film are stellar, and it comes as a surprise to no one that Andrea Riseborough gives a pure dynamite turn, contorting every inch of her face and body as the carnivalesque Suze. Read full review
70
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeOct 27, 2022
The film’s ironic tone largely defangs the transgressive films it parodies, but Kramer does broaden the scope of the queer leather canon. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassOct 25, 2022
The film’s unapologetic level of artifice is at once the source of its pleasures and limitations. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesTara BradyMar 30, 2023
It’s not for everyone. Please Baby Please often forgets that it’s a musical, and the action is increasingly chaotic. Read full review
58
IndieWireJude DryOct 29, 2022
With its bisexual lighting and hyper-designed oddball aesthetic, Please Baby Please looks a lot more polished than its messier camp influences. Aesthetically, the film cobbles together its many cinematic influences with admirable swagger. But film isn’t solely a visual medium — it’s a storytelling one as well. Read full review
50
Original-CinLiam LaceyNov 29, 2022
Please Baby Please has one thing going for it: A chance to watch gifted actors do some daredevil freestyling. In moments, it’s almost enough. Read full review
50
TheWrapLena WilsonOct 29, 2022
Please Baby Please may pay homage to queer aesthetics, but it fails to make any coherent points about gender or sexuality. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireOct 28, 2022
While it’s drenched in style and features performances from an eclectic cast of actors who are deeply committed to the bit, and its expressions of erotic desire can be quite steamy, director and co-writer Amanda Kramer’s film feels limited and grows tiresome rather quickly. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 24, 2022
A fascinating but frustrating overreach that is never more fun than when it’s most over the top, but never really gets a handle on what it’s supposed to be about. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 28, 2023
The film feels over-determined and self-satisfied. Read full review
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