Queen of the Desert
IFC Films | Release Date: April 7, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
11
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Screen DailyMark AdamsApr 6, 2017
While enjoyable in parts, its episodic pacing lets down the real-life story of a bold and remarkable woman. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 8, 2015
Herzog’s script loses its way in the desert at one point, dutifully chronicling a life whose principal conflicts are a bit too abstract to dramatize. In the end, it’s not clear what’s driving Bell, nor what’s holding her back. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 13, 2017
The great and usually fantastically innovative Werner Herzog has turned Bell’s story into a conventional, cliché-riddled, overly talky and plodding biopic where very little happens for long stretches of time, and we have to endure deadly-dull voice-over narration while looking at admittedly gorgeous scenery and, well, camels. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 6, 2017
The main flaws in “Queen,” however, are a lurching narrative coupled with dialogue awkwardness, and a blasé approach to Bell’s motivations. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoApr 6, 2017
It’s a great story, but the movie has a flatness that can’t be denied. Who’d have expected a Herzog film to invoke thoughts of “Masterpiece Theater” and Merchant-Ivory productions at their most stiff and formal? I surely did not. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 5, 2017
Whatever imprint Queen Of The Desert makes belongs mostly to Kidman, who stresses Bell’s compassion, her fearlessness, her eponymous regality. Read full review
50
The PlaylistJessica KiangFeb 8, 2015
It's such a disappointment when you consider the wild portraits of pioneers that Herzog has given us before, that he's so reverent here. Isn't he the director who can locate the madness in everything he sees? Where is Bell's madness? Read full review
40
Village VoiceKristen Yoonsoo KimApr 6, 2017
Herzog has previously thrived on madness, so the failure here proves even more curious. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 8, 2015
It is grown-up, respectable and historical, perfectly competently made, lots of accents and period dressing-up … and just the tiniest bit dull. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 8, 2015
Despite the director's frequently stated mission to liberate the poetry in his material by excavating what he has described as "ecstatic truth," this is a literal, rather flat epic that keeps telling us in voiceovers of its spiritual dimension, without actually generating much evidence of it. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 8, 2015
]Herzog's] film has the distinction, and also the disadvantage, of being probably the least severe Herzog has yet made: it’s pretty and watchable, with Kidman trying her heartfelt best, but it can’t make its Gertrude Bell, as lover, cultural pioneer and feminist icon, add up to more than a series of voguish poster-girl poses. Read full review
More From This Movie

39 Critic Reviews

5.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 63 Normal
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL