Queen of Earth
IFC Films | Release Date: August 26, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekAug 25, 2015
Queen of Earth is also a semi-comedy, often funny in an intentionally bleak way. And that, besides Moss, is what makes it work. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 22, 2015
Every beautiful, resonant image in writer-director Alex Ross Perry's film is fraught with neurotic, diaphanous riddles. Read full review
91
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezFeb 10, 2015
Perry’s observations of complicated female dynamics are extremely perceptive and the emotional specificity of alienation, disenchantment, and mistrust is wonderfully precise. Read full review
90
SlateSharan ShettyAug 27, 2015
Much of the film’s power comes thanks to Moss, who after stealing Listen Up Philip unleashes the most vigorous, visceral performance of her career. Read full review
90
VarietyScott FoundasFeb 10, 2015
An unnerving, acidly funny work that fosters an acute air of dread without ever fully announcing itself as a horror movie. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelSep 10, 2015
Moss and Waterston are incredible, and even though Queen of Earth is purposefully not a readily digestible film, they keep it intensely interesting. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 3, 2015
Perry may never make a movie for the masses, whoever they are. But his truest work burrows into weird, blackly comic places few other filmmakers would dare explore. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoAug 27, 2015
Queen of Earth is terrifying because it is so emotionally unmoored—Catherine is a character with little reason to care about anything or anyone, and Perry and Moss convey the danger of that brilliantly. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAug 25, 2015
In Queen of Earth, writer-director Alex Ross Perry—who does snippy black comedy better than just about anyone else on the current American indie landscape—dials down the humor that has defined his work to this point, and turns up the queasy psychological currents that have always gurgled underneath it. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanJun 20, 2016
You have to be in the right mood for it, but this is one of the season’s finest films. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 17, 2015
It boasts a terrific performance by Katherine Waterston and an even better one by Elisabeth Moss. It's not exactly a grand old night out at the movies, but it's still well worth the time (90 minutes) and effort. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 7, 2015
Queen of Earth is a psychodrama shot like a horror movie — "Persona" meets "The Shining." Right down to the haunting, minimalist score (by Keegan DeWitt) that’s perched dangerously, wonderfully between spooky and lyrical. Read full review
80
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyAug 22, 2015
[A] delicately calibrated portrait of dissolution which points to the versatility of writer/director Alex Ross Perry. Read full review
80
CineVuePatrick GambleFeb 10, 2015
The performances of both Moss and Waterston are tremendous, filling the empty spaces of the frame with a suffocating mist of pain and suffering. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiSep 9, 2015
This is a lovingly rendered, feel-bad chamber piece chock-full of elliptical psychodrama. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 27, 2015
The result is chilling and beautifully composed, a stylish study of disintegration that is easier to admire than enjoy. Read full review
75
IndieWireNeil YoungFeb 12, 2015
Perry and editor Robert Greene switch back and forth between twin time-frames with no fuss or warning - and flashes of virtuoso flair - finding ironic parallels between the happy gathering of the previous summer and the more fraught atmosphere of the present day. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 25, 2015
Ms. Waterston, a Modigliani in motion and often in black, easily holds your attention, but it is Ms. Moss, with her intimate expressivity, who annihilates you from first tear to last crushing laugh. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberFeb 10, 2015
Throughout the film Moss traverses an astonishing range of emotions, from bliss to complete mental disintegration. She is fascinating to watch even when the film turns into a frustrating head-scratcher. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 30, 2016
It’s a one-note drama of simmering resentment. That note is sustained with impressive conviction. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 28, 2015
An open wound, Moss is terrific, yet Queen of Earth feels a touch brittle and precious, like the swirly pink-hued script Perry employs for his end credits. It’s a movie about not getting over it, as oppressive as that sounds. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierAug 26, 2015
It’s rare when a psychological drama gets us into a character’s head without tricks or a voiceover. This drama from Alex Ross Perry burrows so deep that it’s scary. Read full review
40
The New YorkerAnthony LaneAug 31, 2015
For some viewers, the acidity level of Perry’s movie will be too high to stomach. For others — anyone who thinks that there are too many warm hugs in Strindberg, for example — Queen of Earth awaits. Read full review
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