The 355
Universal Pictures | Release Date: January 7, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
27
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Film ThreatAlan NgJan 6, 2022
The 355 is good old action fun with a well-constructed story and better than all of the bad James Bond movies. That’s right, Octopussy! I’m talking about you. I’m hoping The 355 is the right direction for female-driven action movies. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandJan 6, 2022
While The 355 might not be the boundary-busting breakthrough it was sold as, it’s something better: a solid spy flick that adds something new to the genre without totally upending it. That’s refreshing in its own way. Read full review
67
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerJan 6, 2022
Even the most grounded of James Bond movies has a certain level of goofy fun baked in; it’s inherent to the genre. And if The 355 had been a bit more conscious of this, it might have been a far more successful movie. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 10, 2022
The special effects are suitably impressive and mostly understated (or at least as understated as is possible for a high-tech spy thriller) and the stunts are expertly executed. But it’s all in the service of a generic package. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerJan 6, 2022
The 355 is enjoyable, go-lady nonsense that eventually exhausts itself with its ambitions to be more. It’s like watching a woman have a furious argument with herself about a man who doesn’t love her enough, only it’s about spy movies. Read full review
63
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJan 6, 2022
The 355, directed by Simon Kinberg (“X-Men: Dark Phoenix”) who co-wrote with Theresa Rebeck (“Smash”), is not an instant classic by any means. It is, however, a straightforward and solidly entertaining spy thriller that (mostly) avoids the impulse to pat itself on the back too obviously. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 6, 2022
The 355” is a vigorous formula action spy flick with an out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire plot that mostly holds your attention, periodically revs the senses, and gives its actors just enough to work with to put a basic feminine spin on the genre. I make a point of that because the film does too. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'HaraJan 6, 2022
The chases, fights and fun bits of spy craft are brightly and pacily shot, but the 'twists' are barely surprising. These women, and these characters, deserve more. Read full review
58
The Film StageJared MobarakJan 6, 2022
Kruger and Nyong’o elevate the material to a level it probably doesn’t deserve with Chastain and Cruz following closely behind. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 7, 2022
The spies in The 355 approach their work, and the work of being a woman, with grim determination. Rarely has a spy thriller so much resembled a pile of ironing. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 6, 2022
The lesson here is something we already know but sometimes don’t admit: A movie doesn’t have to be any good in order to be good. Sometimes it can just be nonsense that’s easy to watch. “The 355” is a guilty pleasure, only don’t waste time feeling guilty. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 6, 2022
There’s so much wasted potential here, so little sense of how to get across a notion of solidarity in the face of catastrophic danger, and sexism, not in that order. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 6, 2022
The entire movie comes across as if the screenwriters had gathered the scripts for dozens of similar films in the genre, dropped them into some sort of software blender — and whipped up one big bland smoothie of a story. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenJan 6, 2022
Despite a few scattered moments, the team-up action of The 355 never fully comes together. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 6, 2022
Now and then The 355 sticks a landing. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryJan 6, 2022
Showcasing a thrown-together international team of female spies, "The 355" mostly feels like the pilot for a TV series, just with an inordinately good cast. Any movie in this genre that name-checks James Bond can't be all bad, but in terms of justifying a trip to the theater, nor is it good enough. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 6, 2022
It’s all quite watchable and not without suspense, but the characters reveal too little emotional depth or complexity to make us care much about either their losses or their hard-fought victories. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJan 6, 2022
The dialogue is as pedestrian as the plotting is far-fetched. Read full review
49
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerJan 6, 2022
If playwright Theresa Rebeck, who receives co-writing and story credit, brought a fresher perspective to this material at some point, it has been slathered in screenwriterly varnish and a sense of take-charge female empowerment best described as EuropaCorpesque. Read full review
42
Original-CinThom ErnstJan 27, 2022
Despite some exemplary action sequences, including an impressive chase scene through the streets of Paris and into the subterranean tubes, The 355 fails to shed the tropes of male gaze and the kickass female fetishes of Kill Bill, Charlie's Angels, and every film Luc Besson has made with a female lead. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJan 6, 2022
In a spy thriller, a woman who drinks her whiskey neat—girlbosses never dilute—and kicks men in the face wearing a stacked heel has become as much of a cliché as the womanizing secret agent. And The 355 does nothing to complicate, deconstruct, or refresh that cliché. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJan 10, 2022
The 355 was directed by X-Men: Dark Phoenix’s Simon Kinberg, who wrote the script with Smash creator Theresa Rebeck, and he’s genuinely terrible with fight sequences, which is a real issue in a movie that has a lot of them. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJan 9, 2022
Simon Kinberg’s film feels aggressively focus-grouped for the girl-boss crowd. Read full review
40
Total FilmKevin HarleyJan 7, 2022
The cast commit, but The 355 is no lucky number for Kinberg, who only delivers diminished returns on spy-thriller genre conventions. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJan 7, 2022
It is better to create original action roles for women than to lazily alter the gender of already familiar characters. But there is no other reason for this humdrum film to exist. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJan 6, 2022
Doggedly mediocre actioner The 355 is the cinematic equivalent of gathering together Formula 1’s finest drivers and tossing them the keys to a Yugo. With two Oscar wins and four Oscar nominations between them, Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o are gonna do some pretty nifty work with a Yugo. Still, actors this capable deserve better gear. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonJan 6, 2022
The filmmaking deserves credit for refusing to leer as the ladies convincingly kick and punch — all focus is on the stunts, not on sex appeal. Yet there’s a sense that “The 355” felt forced to pick between being sincere or being fun. It chose solemnity. As a result, it’s flat-footed even when the setups yearn to be playful. Read full review
40
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganJan 6, 2022
Despite the keep-it-open ending, it seems clear that Chastain has an idea, and not a franchise; that Simon Kinberg (X-Men) works better as a producer than a director. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJan 6, 2022
Rather than doing anything novel or surprising with the basic spies-gone-rogue template, The 355 just repackages it in girl-power wrapping: it’s the film equivalent of a high-fructose, corn-syrup-based fizzy drink being passed off as chic in taller, slimmer cans. Read full review
40
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelJan 6, 2022
The 355 is the cinematic equivalent of Hydrox. It's a bland and generic retread of something that's well-liked, if not beloved, something that feels vaguely like the real thing. Read full review
40
Screen RantMolly FreemanJan 6, 2022
The 355 is an entertaining if unremarkable spy movie, with predictable story beats and mediocre action that's only somewhat saved by its strong cast. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyJan 6, 2022
The 355 is a mark of progress only in how wholly unremarkable it feels. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 6, 2022
Films such as The 355 live and die by the quality of their action set pieces and while there’s a propulsive pace to the proceedings, there’s never quite enough genuine excitement. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 6, 2022
“January release” or not, it’s still a shame that all this talent, an epic fight in a fish market and some cool shootouts and chases were wasted this way. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJan 7, 2022
The 355 amasses some of the most talented and electrifying actresses in the world, then squanders them in a generic and forgettable action picture. Read full review
25
ABC NewsPeter TraversJan 7, 2022
What a bummer to kick off 2022 at the movies with a lame, gender-flipped mission impossible. Chastain and her team of women warriors could have shown the guys how action cinema is done. Instead, director Simon Kinberg traps them in an empty, soulless mess. Read full review
25
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 6, 2022
Given how poorly made, poorly written, and poorly crafted “The 355” is —with action that is casually visceral, but actually borderline incompetent and super sloppily staged—the final product reeks of superficial vanity project intended to “let girls be badass” rather than trying to circumvent, better, or elevate the genre (or women for that matter). Read full review
25
Slant MagazineJake ColeJan 6, 2022
The film treats its premise as the backdrop for a trite celebration of empowerment and teamwork among professional women. Read full review
20
PolygonRobert DanielsJan 6, 2022
Though The 355 tries to maneuver with the kinetic verve of a globetrotting adventure, the marks of shooting on generic sets are all over this film. Read full review
20
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 6, 2022
The 355 is the kind of star-packed, glossy adventure that wants to be the launching pad for a franchise; instead, it’s going to be one of the films most mentioned in future discussions regarding January as a studio dumping-ground for misbegotten movies. Read full review
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