The Kitchen
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: August 9, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
24
Negative:
16
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New YorkerRichard BrodyAug 13, 2019
Its big idea, though vague, is at least a fascinating curiosity. But with its jumble of clichés, its blatant word-bubble declarations, and its hectically rushed impracticalities, the movie—which is based on a comic-book series—invites an air of antic exaggeration and revved-up stylization. It hints frustratingly, throughout, at a comedic impulse that the direction of its actors suppresses. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 7, 2019
The gender politics are as appealing as the rock-solid trio of lead actors (Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss), even when the movie itself proves less than persuasive. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandAug 7, 2019
Despite some major narrative missteps, the film’s bold twist on the mob drama still has a refreshing quality. Maybe The Kitchen would have fared better as a series, with more time for its potential material to simmer. Read full review
55
IGNJim VejvodaAug 8, 2019
The Kitchen has a good cast and strong premise, but it never quite finds its footing and falls into gangster cliches. Read full review
50
Original-CinKaren GordonAug 15, 2019
There’s star power in front of and behind the camera in the new mob action-drama The Kitchen. But all that talent, unfortunately, doesn’t add up to a satisfying movie. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzAug 9, 2019
Full antihero equality will only be achieved when women are permitted to carry a crime drama by being so charismatic that viewers would consider following them into hell rather than give up the buzz they get from watching them be bad. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 8, 2019
The end result is something that feels like it should have been much better than it is. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeAug 7, 2019
While the film boasts a refreshing premise — mob wives taking over their husbands’ territory when the men land themselves in jail — what lingers afterwards is the stale taste of its lukewarm execution. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghAug 7, 2019
The Kitchen requires Scorsese levels of charisma to work, and only McCarthy comes close out of sheer professionalism. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeAug 7, 2019
The Kitchen’s inability to criticize its characters without falling back on mild endorsement for their warped empowerment cheapens the film’s moments of reflection, turning them into perfunctory scenes of mild protest. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 7, 2019
This material, though, is damn thin. Like so many films derived from the pictures and words of a graphic novel, The Kitchen feels perfunctory and sterile and under-detailed. Read full review
50
VarietyOwen GleibermanAug 7, 2019
We see, in Melissa McCarthy’s increasingly fierce performance, a hint of what the movie might have been: the tale of a new kind of feminine mystique — a methodical fury that weds the imperatives of a mother to the style of a gangster. But that movie needed a better script. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 7, 2019
They’re made women in an underworld that doesn’t want them, and while that theme is sufficiently explored, The Kitchen disappointingly fails to explore the racial politics it hints at and, aside from the main trio, is full of characters who feel paper thin. The results aren’t criminal, per se, but the movie more often finds mediocrity instead of real nuance. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenAug 7, 2019
What's missing in this Kitchen is heat. A B-movie summer diversion at best, it's more a collection of genre tropes than an involving crime drama. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 7, 2019
The Kitchen may prove to be a meaningful time-capsule document, but is far less successful as broad entertainment. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 7, 2019
It gets to the point where it hardly matters to us who lives and who dies, because they’re all stone-cold killers. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 7, 2019
As the picture sputters and stalls, losing its quick pace and brutal efficiency in the later acts, this comic book adaptation reveals the flaws in its execution, if not its very origins. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 7, 2019
There’s so much talent in The Kitchen, and so much of it wasted; that’s kind of all you can think about for most of writer-director Andrea Berloff’s debut. Read full review
42
The PlaylistKimber MyersAug 7, 2019
Because we’re living in the worst timeline, these actors and concept are wasted in a movie that lacks spark, flavor, spice, and generally anything that generates or even resembles substantive heat. Read full review
40
EmpireJames WhiteSep 16, 2019
The Kitchen flits through scenes, coming across as its own trailer rather than a full movie. And it makes disappointing use of its great components, wasting three chewy, thoughtful core performances. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 14, 2019
McCarthy and Haddish never seem to find that balance, leading to erratic performances that serve the moment rather than the scene. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryAug 8, 2019
A half-baked mob drama. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 7, 2019
When featherweight Domhnall Gleeson, as an intense angel of death, is your feminist Irish mob movie’s most interesting asset, you need to find Hollywood’s witness-protection program immediately. Read full review
40
TheWrapRobert AbeleAug 7, 2019
Women have been long overdue their “Goodfellas” or “Scarface,” but the not-too-hot The Kitchen is more superficial comic-book posturing than enjoyable blast of exploitation equality. Read full review
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