Sibyl
Music Box Films | Release Date (Streaming): September 11, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatLorry KiktaOct 24, 2019
There are visually stunning scenes throughout, but the acting and writing are the pièce de résistance of Sibyl and should be exactly why you put this film on your radar as one to watch from 2019. It’s certainly going on my end of year favorite list. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 10, 2020
A smart and absorbing new French comedy that initially unfolds like a series of psychotherapy sessions and eventually brings its story to a suitably mythic climax not far from a sputtering volcano. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comCarlos AguilarSep 11, 2020
Rich in impulsive sensuality and knowing humor, the film captivates even as it stumbles through too many subplots. It’s a tad convoluted but never dull. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskySep 9, 2020
Despite the therapeutic functions ascribed to art by both its creators and its audiences, very few of us actually want to play the therapist. Triet does, handling her characters with an almost diagnostic detachment. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSep 10, 2019
Justine Triet is less committed to some make-believe realism than she is to the tricks that memory and language can play on us. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeMay 25, 2019
Triet’s chic, blackly comic psychodrama piles up bad decisions like so many profiteroles in a croquembouche, admiring the teetering spectacle of its chaos as it goes. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerMay 25, 2019
It’s about as French as you can get, to a point that feels borderline absurd in places, and yet Triet handles the material gracefully and altogether skillfully, directing star Virginie Efira to one of her most impressive all-encompassing performances to date. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiSep 17, 2020
The layers constructed between author and art, emotional manipulation and terrorism as coping methods are dense and dizzying. This is film as therapy, and Triet appears to be the one on the couch. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 24, 2020
Aided by Simon Beaufils’s luxuriant wide-screen photography and Laurent Sénéchal’s alternately swooning and plinking suspense music, “Sibyl” is a vacation for the senses and a gathering headache for the brain. The screenplay, by Triet and Arthur Harari (David H. Pickering supplied the English-language dialogue spoken on the island’s film set), piles a lot on the unstable heroine’s plate and then adds even more. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 28, 2019
Efira is a dominant and compelling presence and Sibyl is frequently funny. Ultimately, it never quite squares the circle of the comedy and the pain, but Triet is a sophisticated filmmaker and this – her third feature – is further proof of great talent. Read full review
58
The Film StageEd FranklMay 25, 2019
The final third, especially, is by-the-numbers plotting. It’s a pity, as the film starts off promising some interesting overarching themes, especially Sibyl’s underhand ethics of mining her psychological examinations for fiction. As a metaphor for artistic invention, it’s an interesting, but unsuccessful one. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSep 7, 2020
Sibyl is for people who like French movies even when they’re a little ridiculous. Read full review
50
The PlaylistBradley WarrenMay 29, 2019
A flimsy, unremarkable story of obsession. Read full review
50
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganMay 25, 2019
Sibyl is far less than the sum of its parts, and never manages to shake off a heavy tone which consistently threatens to capsize even the rare funny interludes. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSep 10, 2020
Whether psychological drama or sexual farce — and, really, there’s no way to tell — Sibyl is a soapy mess. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 25, 2019
Fundamentally, Sybil is not funny because it is not convincing, and some of the acting is not of the highest order. Efira’s “drunk” turn is something she may wish to omit from her showreel. Read full review
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