Swan Song
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: August 6, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
EmpireJohn NugentJun 14, 2022
Though not always as profound as it aims for, Swan Song is a tender, warm-hearted reflection of a life well lived. If it’s possible for a prolific septuagenarian to be a revelation, Udo Kier is exactly that. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 8, 2022
Like Werner Herzog, Kier’s German accent lends a deadpan drollery to everything he says, but there is a gooey soft-centre to his film, and Kier carries that off reasonably well, his face becoming almost boyish. Another intriguing persona in the Udo Kier gallery. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineKyle TurnerAug 6, 2021
Concerning itself with death and history, Swan Song asks for an assured hand, but gets an ambitious assistant’s—one whose scrutiny and interest in the assortment of ideas within the work dithers, but whose ideas are nonetheless present if left only simmering. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyAug 5, 2021
Kier is unfailingly captivating in the film, which makes it all the more bothersome that the film itself doesn’t match him. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 19, 2021
Kier isn’t panhandling for laughs by playing some tired gay stereotype. There’s a heart-on-his-sleeve sincerity to the performance that’s better than the material merits, for Stephens has written an earnest but anemic script. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneGuy LodgeAug 9, 2021
An otherwise mild-mannered diversion from the American indie hinterland, Swan Song is the rare film to give this cult actor the center-stage spotlight, and a mirrorball-refracted spotlight at that. The fact that he’s in every scene of Todd Stephens’ sentimental queer comedy is, it turns out, the boldest decision in a film that doesn’t always honor its professed credo to live life out loud. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJun 12, 2022
Todd Stephens’s film is an amiable little story, and Kier is clearly enjoying himself immensely, but this is as wafting and insubstantial as Patrick’s chiffon scarf. Read full review
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