The Book of Clarence
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: January 12, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinChris KnightJan 11, 2024
It’s a well-made, witty movie that manages to send up some of the tropes of organized religion while simultaneously signaling that it is firmly on the side of the believers, and also managing not to annoy any atheists in the house. Jesus, it’s good. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 5, 2024
Samuel’s film is an embarassment of acting riches, laugh-out-loud funny when it wants to be and thought-provoking when it dares to be. Read full review
83
ColliderEmma KielyOct 12, 2023
Jeymes Samuel is a master of all trades who can craft character-driven arcs with fun action-packed sequences all against a beautiful score. No actor misses a beat and it confirms LaKeith Stanfield remains not just a brilliant actor but a true movie star. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 12, 2024
Samuel has made a movie that imagines a good-hearted sinner slouching toward salvation one desperate measure at a time. But he’s also made a mirror designed to let folks see themselves in this scenario for once. Read full review
80
Screen RantNadir SamaraJan 11, 2024
The sincerity with which The Book of Clarence approaches its story, combined with its sheer boldness, will cement Samuel as a filmmaker who soars to unimaginable heights. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussJan 10, 2024
Even with its floating hookah smokers, this movie feels far more grounded than most shows that grapple with the divine. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkJan 9, 2024
The film does keep the smirking undercurrent of the first half present in the more serious second, but, slowly but surely, it starts asking big questions about the nature of God, what measure of divinity lies in us all, and the value of basic humanity and grace in a world where God’s intervention isn’t a given. Read full review
70
The Irish TimesTara BradyApr 19, 2024
The script carefully draws details from the gospels as it journeys towards an ending that is miraculous in every sense. Read full review
70
SlashfilmWitney SeiboldJan 10, 2024
The Book of Clarence is aspirational, unique, moving, funny, weird, and very shaggy. But it's better to have a picture's cup runneth over than to present us with an empty chalice. Read full review
69
Paste MagazineTara Bennett Jan 10, 2024
Samuel’s The Book Clarence is a grab bag of ideas and genres that sometimes hit their mark, but in general don’t land a believable arc for the title character. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleAlejandra MartinezJan 10, 2024
At times it feels like it wants to be a comedy, à la History of the World, Part I, and at others it seems solidly part of serious dramas like Ben Hur. It’s a tricky tone to balance, and The Book of Clarence doesn’t always succeed, weakening an otherwise enjoyable and entertaining film. Read full review
67
IndieWireJosh Slater-WilliamsOct 13, 2023
Giving the final days of Christ a contemporary, allegorical spin, The Book of Clarence is more concerned with entertainment value than delivering a sermon. The results are tonally erratic, but absolutely interesting, at the very least. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 11, 2024
The more this filmmaker can learn about matching his musical taste and invention with cinematic tonal range and control worthy of those sounds, the harder we’ll fall for whatever he does next. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 8, 2024
Whether it works depends less on piety than on taste. Beneath the giddy subversion, there’s a cheerless solemnity — a splash of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” as it were — that often comes close to curdling the farce. Read full review
60
Little White LiesCheyenne BunsieJan 18, 2024
Scenes flicker between joyful hit and bemusing miss and it feels as if the film has been thrown together in a manner that feels experimental. The script, meanwhile, is too rudimentary to match the full satirical potential of the premise. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonJan 11, 2024
If The Book of Clarence doesn’t totally work, its combination of the sacred and the irreverent is enchanting. It gets bogged down in its own mud, but it’s certainly shooting for the stars. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithOct 12, 2023
Stanfield, on double duty as both Clarence and his straitlaced disciple twin Thomas, is a charismatic lead in a cast that boasts more than one enjoyable cameo. Yet you can’t help concluding that Samuel’s laudable ambition to give his mischievous comedy a deeper resonance was too heavy a cross to bear. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 12, 2023
Stanfield is a performer whom you can’t help warming to, although here, as sometimes in the past, I found myself wanting him to bring something extra in the third act, some new level of energy or anger. But maybe it would be wrong here. Read full review
58
The Film StageAlistair RyderOct 18, 2023
Once Samuel stops trying to modernize the genre with layers of music-video style and comedic irony, his film becomes surprisingly effective––it just takes a little while to get there. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJan 12, 2024
It begins as a comedy, takes a turn toward the earnest, and ends with a sort of genial blasphemy. There’s definitely nothing else like it out there, for better and worse, and even if it doesn’t work, there’s something admirable about how at ease the film is with its own erratic rhythms. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlJan 11, 2024
As an homage to biblical epics of yesteryear, The Book Of Clarence doesn’t have enough grand drama or thrilling set pieces. As a spoof of such films, it loses its nerve and never goes for the full joke. And as a straightforward story of belief, it relies too much on familiar tropes. Thus it ends up being too little of this and that and not enough of its own. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonJan 10, 2024
Samuel’s sophomore full-length feature is an ambitious misfire, a noble failure that starts off like “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and ends like “The Passion of the Christ.” Read full review
50
The Associated PressMark KennedyJan 9, 2024
Samuel never stays with any idea for long and “The Book of Clarence” lacks cohesion, as well as consistency, even if the acting is superb, especially from a soulful Stanfield. Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'HaraApr 19, 2024
With a cast this talented there will always be decent moments, but they never cohere. Credit for its casting and design, but it’s not the movie messiah, just a very disappointing mess. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyApr 18, 2024
Stanfield’s dropout charisma can cushion a role fine, but can’t make this one very interesting. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithJan 11, 2024
Mr. Stanfield is a gifted performer. Thanks to an amateurish script, however, Clarence is a lifeless Brian. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsJan 10, 2024
The Book of Clarence, the religious epic by multi-hyphenate talent Jeymes Samuel, is a handsomely crafted picture that simply loses the plot. Read full review
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