The Glorias
Amazon Studios | Release Date (Streaming): September 30, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatLorry KiktaOct 5, 2020
I felt as if I knew Steinem by the end of it, and as though there might be some hope in this current hellscape in which we live. It is the exact kind of movie we need in times such as these. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 29, 2020
“The Vote” was on PBS’s “American Experience,” the gloriously acrid “Mrs. America” on Hulu and the sweet Helen Reddy biopic “I Am Woman” came to theaters and streaming. The Glorias rides the crest of that wave, the best project of the lot, and quite possibly the film of the year. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandFeb 2, 2020
A straight line could be plotted through the feature which, despite its imaginative storytelling structure, still manages to hit all of the big moments in Steinem’s life. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshSep 29, 2020
Using every tool at her disposal, Taymor crafts an epic tapestry of a remarkable life, paying tribute to the glorious Gloria Steinem. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonFeb 2, 2020
Dramatising Steinem’s life during different periods, and with different actresses, Taymor has crafted an exceedingly thoughtful portrait of a leader and the women’s movement she championed. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrOct 1, 2020
It doesn’t always work, but has a natural engine and spirit to it that keeps you focused. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSep 30, 2020
The dreaded question with a film like this is, “Wouldn’t a documentary have been better?” In this case, there’s a double answer. The first half of The Glorias is better told as a drama, because it’s fascinating to see (and not just be told) the obstacles in front of Steinem and how she overcame them. But the second half would have been better as a documentary. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireSep 30, 2020
The Glorias is consistently a visual treat, as you’d expect from Taymor. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDan RubinsSep 28, 2020
The film weaves its refreshingly unpredictable web as the strands of Steinem’s life spiral around each other through snippets of scenes that work efficiently and never preachily. Read full review
75
The Film StageDan MeccaFeb 2, 2020
Frankly, one wishes The Glorias was a bit more radical in its presentation. As it stands, the film gets the job done. Read full review
75
The PlaylistRafael MotamayorFeb 2, 2020
Taymor’s latest manages to be both a loving tribute to American trailblazer and the power of collective action to bring social change. It’s also visually vivid and unexpected, but unfortunately, fairly uneven overall. Read full review
70
ABC NewsPeter TraversSep 25, 2020
The tragic loss of RBG, makes this biopic of women’s-rights icon Gloria Steinem more relevant than ever. It took Julianne Moore and three other actresses to play this feminist trailblazer through the ages and they all do her proud. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 2, 2020
The film is acted with great flair and emotional precision, and it’s been staged by Taymor with vividly detailed historical flavor, yet it tells Steinem’s story in a way that’s more wide than deep. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattOct 9, 2020
As a reverent highlight reel and a history lesson, The Glorias gets the job done; as a movie, though, it rarely sings. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsOct 8, 2020
The strange thing is that for all its tricks — even that odd detour through The Wizard of Oz Taymor manages to serve us midway through — The Glorias still falls prey to the problem of making a movie out of a life far too vast for a movie. Which is to say, a deeply political life. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicShaena MontanariSep 29, 2020
Without any movie-specific spoilers, it’s hard not to be moved and inspired when you reach the end of the film and realize after everything Steinem and the other pioneering feminists of her day have done to advance the position of women in society, there is still much more work to do. Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowrySep 29, 2020
The key performances are strong, but director/co-writer Julie Taymor's movie meanders too much, dragging through the beginning and again toward the end. Read full review
58
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonFeb 2, 2020
For its unconventional structure and occasional flights of fancy, The Glorias all too often reads as a bog-standard biopic more interested in recounting history than telling a story. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneOct 5, 2020
The result is that what should be most uplifting, in The Glorias, is most at risk of clunkiness. Read full review
50
Original-CinKim HughesOct 1, 2020
A little distance — and considerable trimming — would have served the story better. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Jen ChaneySep 30, 2020
A movie about such a pivotal figure who fought, and still fights, so hard for gender equality should spark some intense emotion, especially if you’re a woman. Weirdly, The Glorias never does that. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJennifer SzalaiSep 30, 2020
The intersectional core of the movement is rightfully emphasized, yet in the apparent push to make this movie as instructional and inspirational as possible, the dialogue gets saddled with some heavy-handed exposition. Read full review
50
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeSep 30, 2020
It’s a mannered and muddled take on an exciting subject, and even Taymor’s trademark flights of fantasy are fairly hit and miss. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah Tai-BlackSep 30, 2020
Alongside a peculiar and overly saccharine intergenerational internal monologue that guides the film, The Glorias doesn’t seem to have learned from the important lessons evoked by its subject. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 30, 2020
All the cinematic huffing and puffing only calls attention to the paradox on which this movie is built: It’s a portrait of a woman who’s not particularly interested in being seen other than to prod the world to value other women as much as they value men — culturally, politically, and financially. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 30, 2020
The result is a choppy mix of timelines, color schemes, and differing levels of realism that’s too unfocused to really inspire. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 2, 2020
It's a testament to the complexity of the subject and her positivity even in the face of the most culturally entrenched caveman attitudes that we come away from this flawed, chaotic film with a warm appreciation for her achievements and her indestructible generosity of spirit. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonOct 1, 2020
An overlong, unfocused and distractingly stylized take on Ms. Steinem’s life. Read full review
20
The GuardianAdrian HortonOct 1, 2020
Another film might have mined Steinem’s remarkable life for its complications and contradictions, but The Glorias settles for slapdash iconography. Read full review
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