The Dark and the Wicked
RLJE Films | Release Date: November 6, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanNov 4, 2020
It’s a visceral piece of horror that’s as bleak as it is beautiful. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisNov 5, 2020
Pitiless in its intent, and hopeless in its sense of sorrowful dereliction, The Dark and the Wicked fully earns its horrifically distressing final scenes. Read full review
90
SlashfilmKalyn CorriganNov 4, 2020
Make no mistake about it, The Dark and the Wicked is by far the scariest movie at the Fantasia Film Festival, and its due in large part to Ireland’s neurotic catatonia. You find yourself holding your breath, waiting to see what spine-chilling event hovers just ahead, hiding behind a dark corner. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckNov 6, 2020
The Dark and the Wicked offers supremely atmospheric thrills that will hauntingly resonate with anyone who's ever been faced with a similar situation. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 5, 2020
The Dark and the Wicked pulls no punches, either in its sense of perpetual unease, its occasional moments of understated yet truly stomach-churning gore, or in its emotional heft. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzNov 6, 2020
Without giving too much away, suffice to say that there's a reason why human beings have traditionally described doing work on one's own psyche as wrestling with demons. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeNov 4, 2020
Although its bleak worldview may be a turnoff for viewers who like their media a bit more life-affirming, if you’ve ever said to a friend, “it’s so fucked up, you’ve got to see it,” The Dark And The Wicked is one horror movie that lives up to its title. Read full review
75
The Film StageJared MobarakNov 4, 2020
This is the Devil’s story. The Dark and the Wicked is Satan entertaining himself with the dread of those he could kill in an instant if he wanted. But he doesn’t. He wants them to endure an agony they never thought possible and for us to question the veracity of what we see. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaNov 5, 2020
It isn’t exactly terrifying, but is well-acted and sinister enough to rise (levitate ominously?) above the pack. Read full review
70
VarietyMaggie LeeSep 18, 2020
Ireland conveys subtle differences between paranoia and white-knuckled fear with an appealing fragility, while Oliver-Touchstone invites sympathy and disquiet with just a few twitches of her wrinkles. However, the glaring absence of any background to the main characters’ lives and relationships gives the cast less to work with than they deserve. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenNov 2, 2020
This supernatural fable elevates the subtext of Bryan Bertino’s earlier work to the level of text. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 1, 2020
The players sell it. And the jolts — an apparition here, a ghost in a shadows there — get the job done. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 6, 2020
The sleepy horror movie is an onslaught of spooky images that, while well-done, are watered down by sheer abundance. We stop being scared after the first 15 minutes because there is nothing new to see. Read full review
50
IndieWireKate ErblandNov 4, 2020
Despite a strong start, Bertino’s grim and gruesome The Dark and the Wicked never coalesces into anything more than a collection of chilling images and a paper-thin logic. Read full review
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