The Oath
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: October 12, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 17, 2018
The Oath is harsh. It’s extreme. It goes to places you don’t expect, and then past those places. It’s the most unpleasant comedy in a long time, and lots of people will absolutely hate it. It’s also one of the best movies of the year. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKyle KohnerSep 27, 2018
Raw, improvised and indicative of Trump’s America, The Oath reminds viewers of the need for laughter despite the downtrodden insanity around us. Thankfully, Barinholtz resists the urge to lapse into cynicism, because at the end of the day people are more important than politics. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyAlan ScherstuhlOct 11, 2018
While watching the film, I not only laughed a lot and gasped oh, shit! in the right places. I somehow never once found myself tempted to sneak a peek at my phone to check in on our real American hellscape. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 18, 2018
For a first-time director like Barinholtz, The Oath is more than impressive. Tonally, it goes all over the place, but that only serves to keep the audience as off-balance as the characters onscreen. No matter what your political affiliation may be, this Orwellian farce is a candidate for President Trump’s least favorite film of the year. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 19, 2018
I found it to be the equivalent of a free-swinging slugger who is willing to strike out once, twice, even three times — but then hits one clear out of the park. It’s worth the risk-reward ratio. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonOct 18, 2018
There are a number of movies about addiction scheduled to be released this fall, and although The Oath isn't mentioned as being among them, maybe it should be. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelOct 18, 2018
Somewhat courageously, the film’s real focus is not on the obvious villains in this tale of two Americas, but on the absurd contradiction of its liberal hero watching a political apocalypse unfold on his iPhone. Read full review
70
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiSep 26, 2018
The Oath is a film of its time, and that immediacy is both its strength and its downfall. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonOct 10, 2018
The Thanksgiving table is a perfect battleground for these heavily entrenched political lines, with Barinholtz’s smart, nuanced script pulling no punches. While the satire definitely loses some of its bite in its wild, unpredictable closer, the film still takes Barinholtz and Haddish to fascinating places as performers – neither of them have been as intense or vulnerable onscreen to date. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyMaureen Lee LenkerOct 10, 2018
The film wrongfully substitutes abrupt violence for anything truly provocative, squandering the promise of its early scenes with a disjointed third act and pat ending that renders its satire toothless. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerOct 9, 2018
In The Oath, his first feature as a writer-director, comic actor Ike Barinholtz zeroes in on an approach somewhere between caustic stage comedy and "The Purge." The movie isn’t always up to the delicacy of that ambitious balancing act, but even the attempt is engaging. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnSep 26, 2018
Despite tackling our crazy times, The Oath somehow winds up not quite crazy enough to assess them. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 18, 2018
Most of all, though, it comes off as unsure, even afraid, of just what it wants to say about America today, resulting in a sometimes amusing, sometimes stilted lecture that indicts everyone, and no one. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 10, 2018
A blistering political satire that may rip the bandage and the scab, as well as a lot of the skin, off a political wound that has barely had time to heal. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 26, 2018
Here’s a project that had the nerve to address these tensions in a megaplex environment, only to squander them on a standoff it pretends could be so glibly resolved. Read full review
58
Original-CinJim SlotekOct 24, 2018
As a first-time filmmaker, Barinholtz is on training wheels, shooting almost entirely in closed-space interior, the better to concentrate on his words. To that extent, The Oath is (at first anyway) a scarily realistic depiction of the argument feedback loop that seems to be ripping society apart. But the denouement allows him to slip away without a realistic premise for how one would leave that loop. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 25, 2018
It’s not biting, it’s pummeling. And while it isn’t incompetent or terribly written, acted or shot, while its warning has the sting of “Yeah, we’re pretty close to that happening here,” it is just plain unpleasant to sit through. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 18, 2018
Political satire is one of the trickiest of genres; this one, running out of steam and nerve, ultimately becomes a too-familiar example of another genre: the 93-minute movie that feels way, way too long. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 12, 2018
It’s not brash enough to measure up to the very-near-future dystopia of "The Purge" franchise; it’s also not studied enough as a character ensemble to work as a dialogue-driven bottle movie. The Oath lands in an unpleasant middle ground that is too close to reality to feel like escapism, and too antic to feel equipped at anything like incisiveness. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonOct 12, 2018
The Oath seems to build to that moment where Haddish grabs the screen and takes control. But when her big scene comes, it’s completely unsatisfying and muted, a missed opportunity floating among other missed opportunities. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 11, 2018
In trying to show what a heartless heap our partisan world has become — and could be heading towards — The Oath suddenly just turns into a mess of its own. This is not what we signed up for. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshOct 11, 2018
The comedic actor makes his directorial debut with a politically charged comedy that's sort of a satire, designed to wring wry laughs out of our deeply divided political state. But in this climate, it's just frustrating and unpleasant to watch. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 26, 2018
Clearly coming from the left but happy to make characters of all political stripes look bad, the film is often hard to take, offering laughs that are rarely cathartic enough to compensate. Read full review
40
The New York TimesGlenn KennyOct 11, 2018
It was said by many after the 2016 election that the Trump administration would yield great satirical art. This is not an example of that. Read full review
38
Slant MagazinePeter GoldbergOct 7, 2018
Even while it asks us to recognize ourselves in a world not too distant from our own, The Oath seems to say that the worst part of a full-fledged American dystopia would be the ruined holiday dinners. Read full review
30
Film Journal InternationalHarry HaunOct 11, 2018
The level of internal anger in this flick obliterates all semblance of tone. Its wafting from giddy to gritty and back is unnerving, when not downright annoying. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 17, 2018
He (Barinholtz) works hard to creatively lampoon a nation divided, and his first-timer’s ambition and thematic investment are admirable. Disappointingly, though, he lacks storytelling chops, aiming for wildly provocative satire but instead churning out a technically spotty screed. Read full review
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