Stephanie Daley
Regent Releasing | Release Date: April 20, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
With a calmness that bespeaks confidence, this small, spellbinding second feature by Hilary Brougher brings together two women, trapped in separate states of denial and distress, who manage to end each other's entrapment. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The scary culminating flashback, in which Stephanie gives birth -- in a public restroom, on a high school ski trip -- is a marvel of authentic disturbance. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Brougher has taken material that sounds contrived and potentially exploitative and used her gift for careful observation and restrained emotionality to give it surprising authenticity. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJanice Page
Tamblyn's surprisingly measured performance commands attention. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Some cases should never come to trial, because no verdict would be adequate. You are likely to be discussing this film long into the night. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Without standing on a soapbox Stephanie Daley suggests a tragic gender gap between men who judge and women who feel. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
There is so much to admire and empathize with in Stephanie Daley that it feels almost boorish to quibble about whether the film needs to come packaged as a murder mystery. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
This is first-rate stuff. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
However you feel about her character and what she may or may not have done, Tamblyn's portrayal of Stephanie Daley is softly devastating. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Braugher perhaps overvalues the parallels between Stephanie and Lydie. The scenario is too schematic and diminishes the power of each woman's story. She frames the drama as a cross between a whodunit and a whydunit, and neither strategy is entirely successful. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The film itself is dark and chilling, if occasionally plodding, but worth seeing for the absorbing potency of its main performances. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A stark, painful drama about pregnancy--a subject rarely treated this fully, candidly or tragically. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
This is grim material, but director Hilary Brougher -- working from her own script that won a Sundance award -- examines the lives of these two suffering women without sensationalism or preaching. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
It is provocative, smartly made and truly independent. Read full review
70
VarietyScott Foundas
A taut, provocative, sometimes overreaching but always absorbing thriller. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Despite an overly abrupt and oblique conclusion, this is a major American film, announcing the arrival of an independent director who deserves all the hype. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Apart from Swinton's fine performance, what largely distinguishes this is Brougher's sharp narrative focus. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A muted psychological mystery where filmmaker Hilary Brougher's interest in "solving" a possible crime is superseded by her investigation into matters involving denial, free will and the physical and emotional burdens of pregnancy. Read full review
60
Village VoiceEd Gonzalez
Writer-director Hilary Brougher knows how to rub it in, but Tamblyn is fearless in her attempt to save the narrative from falling into clichéd sermonizing. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
The movie amounts to an extended short story that progresses slowly and fades away with key questions unanswered. Ambiguity isn't necessarily interesting. Read full review
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