The Outfit
Focus Features | Release Date: March 18, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatBobby LePireMar 28, 2022
Moore’s outstanding direction (seriously, how is this his first feature-length effort?) is stylish, subtly reeling one in, as the suspense and thrills slowly boil over. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyMar 18, 2022
Movies rarely come as chic as The Outfit, a thrifty, continually unpredictable whodunit, fashioned with the same meticulousness found in the bones of a deceptively simple suit. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 15, 2022
Set in 1956, it’s a cleverly twisty crime story constructed of many invisible folds and threads, yet it fits Rylance like custom-made clothing. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeApr 8, 2022
It remains, nonetheless, a pleasure to see a good yarn played out in such professional fashion. Just try not to think of the awful pun in the title. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsApr 6, 2022
The Outfit follows a pattern set by countless gangster flicks of the past, but its freshness is in the intelligence and surprise of the script. Like a well-made suit, it’s not old-fashioned — it’s classic. Read full review
80
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiMar 18, 2022
The Outfit is an old-fashioned and masterfully crafted crime thriller that makes good use of its setting, charismatic cast and an excellent lead. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMar 18, 2022
At the center of this clever pinwheel of a story—Moore co-wrote the script with Johnathan McClain—is Rylance, whose economy of motion and emotion is a marvel. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMar 17, 2022
They don’t often make them like this anymore, a story cut, folded and stitched together with care. So “The Outfit” is worth slipping into and savoring. Read full review
80
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzMar 15, 2022
The Outfit is not, strictly speaking, a movie about magic. Yet the gangland thriller pulls off a number of nifty tricks, with first-time director Graham Moore playing his hand with equal parts sleight and might. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 14, 2022
Among other things, “The Outfit” is a celebration of those who sit quietly, who soak in what everyone else is saying, who you overlook. Read full review
80
Screen DailyNikki BaughanFeb 15, 2022
Beautifully designed, carefully measured and expertly cut, The Outfit is a handsome debut from director Graham Moore. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinFeb 15, 2022
It’s testament to the artfulness of Moore and Johnathan McClain’s screenplay that your suspicions flit constantly between all four parties, and the denouement – which takes a surprising yet just about merited turn for the macabre – still manages to surprise. Read full review
75
ObserverEmily ZemlerMar 21, 2022
It’s a movie that relies on the sort of nuance Rylance has mastered, and he unfolds the layers of his character, Leonard, with the same precision that goes into crafting a custom suit. Read full review
75
The PlaylistLauren J. CoatesMar 17, 2022
Even with a relative lack of action, and a confusing attitude towards introducing and removing characters from the narrative in rapid succession, The Outfit is still a wonderfully atmospheric film and fresh new addition to the genre – thanks in large part to Alexandre Desplat‘s heady score, sharp dialogue from writer-director Graham Moore, and Rylance’s consistently impressive leading performance. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMar 17, 2022
Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”) anchors it all, creating a character with unexpected layers, like a suit with an elegant silk lining you didn’t realize was there. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiMar 17, 2022
Leonard takes advantage of one of Rylance’s greatest strengths — the ability to instantly switch from weak to strong. Behind every tiny smile is ferocity. Read full review
75
Original-CinKaren GordonMar 16, 2022
It’s ambitious, but not as much fun as it wants to be. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMark KeizerMar 15, 2022
Filled with twists and reversals that, for the most part, are motivated by character not plot, The Outfit is a nifty little period thriller that provides a showcase role for the always-amazing Mark Rylance. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 15, 2022
There are turns and twists and multiple dashes of the unexpected, and it is all impressively arranged and justified. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 15, 2022
In the end, the story becomes a little too convoluted and the resolution is over-the-top but, for the most part, the twists and turns keep the viewer engaged, the puzzle pieces fit together on a second viewing, and Rylance never ceases to mesmerize. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 15, 2022
It’s the mesmerizing Rylance and the film’s theatrical single-set stage “mystery” that sell The Outfit, a “cutter” in his element, showing not just what he makes, but what he’s made of in this minimalist mob tale built around a mild-mannered man who takes the measure of everyone he meets. Read full review
70
Little White LiesJosh Slater-WilliamsApr 12, 2022
A chamber piece with a small, charismatic cast, in a location made vivid thanks to strong production design, would seem an ideal model for lower-budget counter-programming efforts, should audiences show up. And with Dick Pope on cinematography duty, the visual realisation tends to avoid staginess. Read full review
70
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerMar 21, 2022
With its crisply likable leads mixing it up with pleasingly chewy gangster stereotypes, it has the consistency of a good candy bar. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 20, 2022
One of the pleasures of a film like this is the knowledge that a new fold is always coming. Seen in that light, occasional narrative implausibilities (of both the psychological and physical kind) recede into the distance. The Outfit is imperfect, but it works perfectly. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 17, 2022
The Outfit is a crime thriller made to order, and one that takes pride in how it looks, how things fit on it, the shape it cuts when it moves. Read full review
70
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiMar 17, 2022
Despite its many twists, The Outfit is a fairly straightforward thriller, buoyed by its sharp narrative turns and a quietly subversive Rylance. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 15, 2022
If you’re picturing shades of Kubrick’s “The Killing,” but with better clothes, fewer bullets and a self-effacing English fellow quietly trying to defuse the situation, you wouldn’t be far off. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinFeb 15, 2022
If you prefer to riff on the garment-making angle central to its story, the film is flatteringly and economically cut from fine cloth, cleverly constructed, and only a little marred by flaws in the finishing. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneMar 17, 2022
While there’s no denying that the well-tailored Outfit starts slowly, once it finally gets going the mystery is fun to work out. But it feels like it takes a long time to get there and with a run time of 106 minutes, it really shouldn’t feel that way. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakMar 15, 2022
The unassuming man in the corner is unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight and he handles the pressure with aplomb, ducking and dodging and building a new narrative. It’s a role that demands a presence such as Rylance because the whole is very theatrical in its one-set staging. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiMar 14, 2022
The Outfit is a dapper, twist-filled crime story that relies more on dialogue than gunplay to move the action. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyApr 7, 2022
Even when Leonard’s chatting away with his semi-captors, his words seem rather weightless, as if they were something simply to fill the air while his mind quietly calculates his next move. He’s like a chess master, in a way, and few actors could maintain that magnetic stillness quite like Rylance, who always seems to express so much while doing so little. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneMar 21, 2022
What Moore’s film strives toward, and touches only erratically, is an emotional claustrophobia to match its physical squeeze. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 17, 2022
Sometimes, all you need in a movie is a great actor — well, almost all. Certainly Rylance’s presence enriches The Outfit, a moderately amusing gangster flick that doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 15, 2022
It’s an entertaining, fairly overwrought piece, a little tightly buttoned. Read full review
58
IndieWireSiddhant AdlakhaFeb 15, 2022
Try as it might, its story of a good man caught in a bad situation is bogged down by empty reveals, and by a plot that tries to fool you without first earning your investment. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalAmy NicholsonMar 17, 2022
The story’s pleasures are more literary than cinematic. On screen, it’s more obvious that Mr. Moore’s ideas don’t quite line up. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMar 17, 2022
The Outfit would be a splendid thing if limited to Rylance’s voiceover and long lingering shots of him working with fabrics. Read full review
42
TheWrapRobert AbeleFeb 15, 2022
What The Outfit doesn’t generate much of is organic suspense. With an air of duplicitousness telegraphed early on, and a handful of scenes coming off like information dumps instead of natural exchanges, many of the story mechanics strain for believability. Read full review
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