The House That Jack Built
IFC Films | Release Date: December 14, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
14
Negative:
8
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeDec 16, 2018
This sporadically arresting slice of grand guignol takes pointed swipes at misogyny while occasionally seeming to wallow in it. Perhaps its greatest sin is one of bad timing. As always with Von Trier, we can only guess whether that sin is intentional or ironic. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 16, 2018
The film lands somewhere between self-flagellation and apologia; however hard von Trier is on himself, he’s not above mounting defenses, and he spares plenty of punishment for us, too. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenDec 13, 2018
Von Trier has managed to cobble together just enough of interest — odd moments, pieces of performance, stray ideas and the simple audacity of putting this mess out into the world, that it feels like there may be something there worth considering, a maddening possibility. And that may be his cruelest prank of all. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 16, 2018
The House That Jack Built, however, only rarely achieves that level of disturbing poetic awe. The film lopes along in a way that’s grimly absorbing yet, at the same time, falls short of fully immersive. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 16, 2018
Wielding the same grim power as his most obsessive, tormented work, Jack is deeply embedded within its creator’s psyche, and while the results may be cathartic for him, the movie is only intermittently arresting for the rest of us. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiDec 19, 2018
The film feels rote, an exercise of base and pedestrian concerns that never moves beyond anything resembling a statement. Of which there is none, except perhaps von Trier regarding his navel, which I suspect he wouldn’t have it any other way. For the rest of us? We suffer, which is most likely by the director’s design. Read full review
40
TheWrapYolanda MachadoDec 14, 2018
The House Jack Built feels slightly gratuitous, at times trying to be artistic while simultaneously begging for people to love it, or to love von Trier, pretty pretty please. [R-rated Version] Read full review
40
EmpireOlly RichardsDec 10, 2018
One of von Trier’s most confrontingly horrible films is also one of his weakest. A story about a man disguising his lack of worthwhile contribution with violent self-interest is guilty of every point it’s making. Read full review
40
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 24, 2018
It’s not that you can’t see what Von Trier is getting at, it’s just you wish he’d get there quicker and without all the desecrated bodies. For most of its hefty runtime, The House That Jack Built is just a slog. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 16, 2018
It is two and a half hours of self-reflexive torture porn with an entire McDonald’s warehouse of chips on its shoulder, and a handful of genuinely provocative ideas which, exasperatingly, go nowhere much. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaMay 16, 2018
The film’s most offensive qualities have nothing to do with its grotesque violence and displays of human mutilation, but its terminal navel-gazing and reductive, borderline harmful ideas about art. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 16, 2018
Clearly, all this is designed to provoke adverse reactions. But what if instead of outrage and indignation, the response was a numb shrug? Don't get me wrong — The House That Jack Built is definitely something to see. But what's most surprising is that it's just as often inane as unsettling. Read full review
40
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 16, 2018
After all is said and done, ‘The House that Lars Built’ is an impressive construction for an obnoxious purpose. In fact, the best criticism comes from Talking Heads and their song Psycho Killer: “You’re talking a lot but you’re not really saying anything.” Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 16, 2018
It is an ordeal of gruesomeness and tiresomeness that was every bit as exasperating as I had feared. Read full review
More From This Movie

42 Critic Reviews

6.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL