The 9th Life of Louis Drax
Miramax | Release Date: September 2, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenSep 1, 2016
The picture is like an onion. There are layers here, and beneath them more layers. Peeling them back with surgical skill, director Alexandre Aja reveals complicated family dynamics. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniSep 1, 2016
With its clever structure and pacing, its range of emotional notes, and its remarkable use of magic realism, The 9th Life of Louis Drax makes for an absorbing and memorable mystery. Read full review
66
TheWrapMichael NordineSep 3, 2016
"Louis Drax” is a curious melding of sensibilities, as eager to show off its mysteries as it is to neatly resolve them. It’s a pleasant enough reverie, but one from which you won’t mind waking. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireSep 2, 2016
A twisty, Hitchcockian thriller mixed with trippy moments of magical realism. And if that doesn’t sound on paper like it would work, well, it does. And it doesn’t. Read full review
60
EmpireLiz BeardsworthSep 5, 2016
Part fever-dream, part supernatural thriller and not entirely successful as either, Louis Drax is nonetheless watchable, bolstered by provocative themes. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 1, 2016
The result is a supernatural mystery thriller, slightly overcooked and tonally odd – and uncertain if its juvenile lead is supposed to be cute or sinister. But it is watchable and even intriguing in its weird way. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamSep 1, 2016
As in director Alexandre Aja’s Horns, the action alternates reality/fantasy to middling effect. Read full review
58
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 2, 2016
Unfortunately the truth of The 9th Life of Louis Drax quickly becomes evident because there aren’t many suspects. Once irrefutable facts come to light, common sense dictates what’s going on. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 7, 2016
This movie can’t decide how it wants to look or what it wants to say. You could even call the jumble of styles and tones “quirky,” were you so inclined. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBilge EbiriSep 3, 2016
All that bravura filmmaking — the elaborate camera moves and colorful images and unexpected angles — is fascinating from both technical and aesthetic standpoints, and it certainly held my attention. But don’t be surprised if you start to suspect that, for all the film’s ornamentation, it might not be leading up to something revelatory. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorSep 1, 2016
The result is an intriguing but uneven thriller that doesn’t fully establish the tone and style that would be needed for an audience to accept its supernatural plot. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 2, 2016
For Aja, who has demonstrated an appetite for truly twisted material in the past, it all adds up to a disappointingly tame outing. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 4, 2016
The story shuffles between dark comedy and clumsy mystery, monster movie and psycho-drama, with no character or performance generating a whit of sympathy. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithSep 3, 2016
A dopey psychological thriller that combines elements of “The Sixth Sense” with an overbearing sentimentality, The 9th Life of Louis Drax flat-lines from beginning to end. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 1, 2016
It’s an off-putting mix of matters whimsical and disturbing, more obvious and ludicrous than chilling. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 1, 2016
It’s not clear whether The 9th Life of Louis Drax is deliberately inconsistent or merely an example of confused filmmaking. One thing is certain, however: It sure leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenSep 1, 2016
By the time director Alexandre Aja brings together the pieces with an illuminating pang of emotion, most viewers’ confusion will have given way to indifference. Read full review
25
Washington PostPat PaduaSep 1, 2016
Unfortunately, this film’s dark premise is drowned in whimsy and a forced childlike wonder. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSep 1, 2016
Every incident in the film is a time-bidding maneuver, completely and unimaginatively untethered from logic. Read full review
19
The VergeTasha RobinsonSep 2, 2016
There’s a hint of Aja’s old love of shock-value horror in this film, but it’s blunted by syrupy fake sentiment, mismanaged twists, and half-baked plotlines. Read full review
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