Stigmata
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation (MGM) | Release Date: September 10, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
28
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
20
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TNT RoughCutMatt Kelsey
Ranks with the best of the bunch, given its spooky storyline that fuses religion with down-to-earth characters.
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Less and less a skillfully creepy B-movie and more and more a plea for ecumenical reform. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Could have been a classy thriller. But all the Aramaic in the world can't save it from its own pounding slickness. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Filled with short, rapid-fire takes, edited to a pulsating beat and punctuated with blasts of noise...the style suits the often violent material, as well as Arquette's remarkable physical performance. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Essentially a late-'90s MTV version of "The Exorcist," a half-serious, half-silly piece of business that keeps us involved despite (or maybe because of) being more than a little overdone. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
Begins with a scene of mass repentance, but the real sin here is a profligate waste of talent. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldCurtis Morgan
A garish clashing of sacred images and bloody semihorror, this is a movie that defines the category: interesting failure.
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Possibly the funniest movie ever made about Catholicism. It confuses the phenomenon of stigmata with satanic possession. Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
There's not an authentically scary moment in it. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This serious if assaultively stylish meditation on faith uses traditional elements of religion-based horror in a way that's more innocent than calculating. Read full review
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
A fiery, convoluted finale fails to deliver any satisfying payoff. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Busy, over-stylized mess of a movie. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Repeated lapses in continuity and common sense. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
By the time the credits roll and a disclaimer informs us that there may, in fact, be a lost gospel of Jesus and that it is being suppressed by the Church, all we can think to say is, "Ah, shaudup!" Read full review
38
USA TodayAndy Seiler
The scariest thing about this appalling and seemingly endless movie is that you paid for your ticket and now have to sit through it. Read full review
38
New York PostRod Dreher
What a bloody disappointment Stigmata is! Read full review
30
Film.comTom Keogh
Can anyone but a lapsed Catholic possibly be interested in this unpleasant, anti-Papist creepshow? Read full review
30
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Despite exposition delivered so redundantly and witlessly you think you're in a Kaplan class, Stigmata manages to be incoherent. Read full review
30
SalonMary Elizabeth Williams
A leaden exercise in what can go wrong when movies attempt to explore mysterious forces with dated special effects and easy symbolism...a soggy mess. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
If a movie is going to be so totally derivative, it should at least do a better job of it. Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
A vicious anti-Catholic diatribe disguised as an audition tape for MTV. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneBarbara Shulgasser
Tom Lazarus and Rick Ramage should be ashamed to have written such nonsense. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
A better title for this flick might have been Astigmatism: Nothing ever comes into focus long enough ... to deliver even the faintest sense of fright. Read full review
20
Rolling StonePeter Travers
There should be a place in hell for hacks who turn out derivative terror trash and then pretend they're doing an important investigative piece on Vatican corruption.
20
Mr. ShowbizJustine Elias
An incomprehensible mess. Read full review
20
NewsweekJane Hogan
Save yourself from this mess. Read full review
20
The New York TimesStephen Holden
(Patricia Arquette's) irritated reactions to her dire situation have all the force of a pet owner's whiny complaints when her feline refuses to use the cat box. Read full review
20
Film.comMoira Macdonald
Lurches on for the better part of two hours with a ludicrous plot and even worse dialogue, interspersed with what look like excerpts from a music video made by some naughty Catholic-school graduates. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A crude, silly supernatural thriller. Read full review
0
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The only question audiences are likely to be asking their higher power in the wake of viewing the film is, "What the fuck?" Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
What is bloody and full of holes? Read full review
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