The Phantom of the Open
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: June 3, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMay 31, 2022
Despite its light subject matter, “Phantom” is about something more than an obscure British folk hero (although it is also that). It’s a story about following your passion, not because of the heights this path will take you to, but because it makes you happy. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansMar 20, 2022
Despite the inherent silliness, the actors play it straight. There’s an earnestness to Rylance’s performance, which encourages us to find inspiration in the underdog. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeMar 18, 2022
The film does feel a little thin in its later stages, but the inventive performances – Rylance’s in particular – keep the film aloft throughout. No bogie. Comfortably a birdie. Not quite an eagle. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinOct 21, 2021
The Phantom of the Open is a rousing salute to a very English strain of nincompoopery – and a wise and witty reminder that that the pleasure of doing something spectacularly badly can outstrip the satisfaction of a job well done. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekJun 14, 2022
The odd golfball-centric bit of whimsy aside, The Phantom of the Open is straight-ahead storytelling (complete with a pat family crisis that is neatly resolved) that can only be as good as the actors in it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 14, 2022
The Phantom of the Open is about as deep and complex as a round of miniature golf, but it’s just as much fun as well. Read full review
75
Film ThreatAlan NgJun 7, 2022
What The Phantom of the Open has going for it is a sweet and unconventionally inspirational story. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 3, 2022
It’s enough that this heartfelt delight makes par on its premise; there’s a birdie here and a bogey there, but director Craig Roberts (“Eternal Beauty”) keeps a firm grip on the film’s whimsical tone from start to finish, the former “Red Oaks” star finding a way to have fun with his shots without risking his straightforward approach to the pin. Read full review
75
ObserverEmily ZemlerJun 3, 2022
Who doesn’t want to be lauded for being absolutely rubbish at something we love? The Phantom of the Open is a good reminder that you don’t have to be the best to achieve your dreams. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 14, 2022
This may not be Rylance’s greatest film, the stakes being as low as they are. But his impersonation is both uncanny — stay through the credits — and adorable. Read full review
75
The Film StageAlistair RyderOct 21, 2021
Ultimately, The Phantom of the Open is one of this year’s most charming films––a broad crowdpleaser that stands a good chance of winning over even the most cynical audiences. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithJun 14, 2022
The clash Mr. Roberts devises between the lunchbucket blues of operating a crane at a shipyard and the dazzle of big-time sports raises pertinent questions about the relationship between vocation and avocation, about where we truly locate meaning in our lives, especially as time grows less disposable. Read full review
70
Screen RantAlex HarrisonJun 10, 2022
Roberts' film succeeds where much contemporary coverage failed because of how invested it is in the difference between laughing with him, as the audience is taught to do, and laughing at him. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJun 3, 2022
The movie’s wry hijinks and spirited affection for its characters prove gratifying. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLisa KennedyJun 2, 2022
A different actor than Rylance might have revealed the slight darker, impostor wrinkles of the tale. Instead, his character, an unflummoxed optimist, shares some of the same cheery qualities as Ted Lasso. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 2, 2022
You may see Flitcroft as a figure of ridicule or a hoax icon sticking it to gatekeepers or the ultimate aspiring amateur. The movie, however, shrewdly relishes all identities in its mix of the humor inherent in his prankish folly and the sentimentality of a pie-in-the-sky dream. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeOct 21, 2021
The jokes write themselves, though in The Phantom of the Open, screenwriter Simon Farnaby and director Craig Roberts make them sweeter and spryer than they could have been, while a wide-eyed, bucket-hatted Mark Rylance plays Flitcroft with abundant generosity of spirit. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeOct 21, 2021
The Phantom Of The Open is an amiable little picture which might be dramatically as flat as Mark Rylance’s vowels but still packs a considerable helping of crowd-pleasing charm into its cap and golfing slacks. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleJun 22, 2022
There is a lot to like about The Phantom of the Open – and just as much to quibble over – but ultimately, the world can easily stomach a few treacle movies if they are this grounded in failure. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubBrent SimonJun 6, 2022
Directed by Craig Roberts, this achingly British offering (its opening lines involve the request for a cup of tea—no milk, six sugars) is a pleasant movie of smaller stakes that, for better or worse, sidesteps inspiration in favor of more laidback reflection. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckJun 1, 2022
Rylance is also one of those few actors who can power an entire film, and The Phantom of the Open definitely rides on the strength of his signature quirky energy as it tells the true-life story of Maurice Flitcroft, a shipyard crane operator from northern England who stunned the golfing world in 1976 by entering the British Open under false pretenses — he’d never played a round of golf — and shooting the worst qualifying round in Open history. Read full review
61
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerJun 2, 2022
The movie never turns into a full-tilt caper, even as the obligatory end-credits appendix hints at enough material to inspire one. It’s stuck, charmingly and a little wanly, in another era. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsMar 18, 2022
It has a bit of the mood of The Full Monty or Brassed Off about it, and if it’s not as good as either of those it has a gentle upbeat cheeriness that’s hard to resist. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerMar 15, 2022
What The Phantom Of The Open lacks in ambition or dramatic oomph, it makes up for in easy-going appeal. Anchored by an impish Mark Rylance, it takes its cue from the story’s hero: a bit ramshackle, very amiable, always watchable. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonOct 21, 2021
As fuzzy and reassuring as a multi-coloured Pringle sweater-vest, The Phantom of the Open is a good, old-fashioned crowd-pleaser. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 21, 2021
Rylance is good casting as Maurice: his delicate sing-song voice and sometimes faintly unfocused gaze fit nicely with our hero’s lovably awkward determination, as well as Flitcroft’s sense as a natural comedian that there is something more than a little absurd in the game of golf. Read full review
55
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanJun 2, 2022
The Phantom of the Open tries so hard to be a winking commentary on British heartwarmers about lovable outsiders. And its efforts are, as often as not, entertaining. But after a while, it becomes clear that what it wants more than anything is to be embraced as a crowd-pleasing comedy itself. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJun 16, 2022
The movie is alternately preposterous and predictable, forced in humor and saccharine in emotion, and it’s not exactly steady in striking a balance between the two. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonJun 7, 2022
Rylance is always good, but director Craig Roberts, to use a golf term, lays up instead of going for the pin. In other words, he plays it safe. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJun 3, 2022
With its amusing training montages, colorful supporting characters, and uplifting message of perseverance, The Phantom of the Open does exactly what you expect it will in the most familiar, comforting manner imaginable. It earns the politest of golf claps. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineWes GreeneJun 1, 2022
The film loses its satiric edge as it begins to melodramatically detail how Maurice Flitcroft inherited the mantle of folk hero. Read full review
40
Little White LiesAdam WoodwardMar 16, 2022
It’s undemanding, dramatically inert and, although class is very much on its agenda, one-dimensional in its depiction of the golfing establishment’s stuffy elitism. Read full review
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