The Exterminating Angels
IFC First Take | Release Date: March 7, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Like "Secret Things," the film is ultimately infuriating, subtle, self-indulgent, astute and disingenuous, which makes for great -- if divisive -- conversation. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
The problem with Exterminating Angels is that its explanatory side overwhelms its playfully perverse side. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A luminous picture, beautifully made, loaded with symbolism and mystical-religious imagery, about an artist's self-destructive quest for an unreachable grail. It's also a deliberately prurient spectacle designed to be arousing and troubling -- most viewers, I imagine, will have both reactions at various times (and maybe at the same time). Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Brisseau trains his deft camera on the crescendo of female sexual pleasure and how women can heighten the intensity of already blissful sensations via transgressive flourishes. If exiting viewers could all be asked "Was it good for you?" the likely answer is "Yes." Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
One of Mr. Brisseau's subjects is the volatility of desire, the way the path of erotic curiosity can swerve from satisfaction into recrimination and confusion. A porno-philosopher in the venerable French tradition, he blends a frank appeal to the audience's nether regions with some teasing attention to its mind. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The content may be dubious, but the execution is hypnotic. Read full review
60
Village VoiceRob Nelson
One audaciously, endearingly ludicrous movie. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStaff (Not credited)
Alternately provocative and highly silly, the film overcomes its more ludicrous aspects through its glossy visual style, its frequent doses of humor and the obvious associations it evokes to its creator's real-life experiences. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Brisseau obviously aims to shock - and he does. Now shocking is A-OK with me - but only if it's part of a something bigger. Exterminating Angels is beautifully lensed and acted, but it lacks substance. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The new movie, for all its huffing and puffing, explores very little, even if some of it is sexy in a Howard Stern-meets-"9 1?2Weeks" way. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Soft porn for people who like to watch - and want to be punished for it. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Leave it to the French to take the joy back out of sex. The high-minded erotic drama Exterminating Angels has heat but little light; it speaks of pleasure while treating it as a dirty word. The cast huffs and puffs but the exercise, sadly, remains academic. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
The film -- buoyed by its cast of excellent actors -- loses its momentum in the final half-hour when it starts to take itself too seriously. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Unbelievably pretentious and a bit of a hoot but rarely boring. Read full review
40
Film ThreatMatthew Sorrento
As ambitious as this alleged art film may appear - the Bunuelian title proves to be more of a starting point than a true allusion - it lacks any introspection to illuminate the erotic subject matter. (Think Michael Bay attempting to remake "Y Tu Mama Tambien.") Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Exterminating Angels is meant as an autocritique--and yet the director can't get past his notion of himself as a fearlessly transgressive artist-hero, a martyr to the limitations of male gaze. Read full review
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