The Plagiarists
Kimstim Films | Release Date: June 28, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
0
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Film ThreatAlex SavelievJul 1, 2019
A reminder of the importance and intimacy of literature, a meta-study of art vs. fabrication, an indictment of cultural appropriation/racial stereotypes, our increasingly digitized world and entitled generation, The Plagiarists is also an ode to how much can be done with very little. Parlow and his crew knock it out of the park. Read full review
90
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJun 27, 2019
The Plagiarists does skewer its characters, but where it goes from there is more genuinely bleak than what mere finger-pointing can achieve. Read full review
90
VarietyJessica KiangFeb 15, 2019
Wilfully student-video amateurish in form, but impishly sophisticated in content, a gleeful cultural curiosity fairly crackles off The Plagiarists, and it is highly contagious. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineCarson LundMar 29, 2019
This is a rigorous film concerned with questions of cultural appropriation, learned behavior, and the very texture of life in our content-saturated present (a feeling not exclusive to urban centers), but one with the good humor and wisdom to disguise itself as something far more familiar. Read full review
83
The Film StageRory O'ConnorFeb 15, 2019
Were The Plagiarists merely this observation of liberal minds in duress it would have made for a more than enjoyable watch but with credit to Kienitz and Wilkins’ terrific script, it becomes more nuanced and haunting only after that first act. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAug 30, 2019
Jagged and acrid, yet also slippery and provocative, “The Plagiarists” is a micro-indie talkathon with the edge of something forcibly overheard but fragmented, as if you’d been thrown into a cramped rideshare with many discursive routes and no obvious destination Read full review
80
CineVuePatrick GambleFeb 15, 2019
The topic of who can participate in the arts often ignores society’s racial prejudices and class assumptions, thankfully The Plagiarists’ perfectly judged mimicry of independent cinema illustrates the profound effect a lack of diversity has on the type of art that gets made. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichFeb 15, 2019
The film improves upon reflection, raising, as it does, some knotty questions about originality in art and in life, as well as provocatively positing that even a copy of a copy of a copy has the potential to move hearts and minds. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJun 25, 2019
Ultimately, it’s the awkwardness that they’re prodding. The Plagiarists isn’t asking why one person would tell a lie, but why another would be so bothered by it — an ambitious line of inquiry for which the film provides more references than concrete answers. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartJun 29, 2019
The satire’s so meta that its whiny protagonists threaten to eclipse the joke. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmJun 28, 2019
I got more enjoyment from reading Parlow’s exceptional interview in the production notes than I did from any given scene in the movie, some of which are so murky, they border on incoherent. Read full review
33
The PlaylistJonathan ChristianFeb 15, 2019
The Plagiarists is a fantastic idea that is irredeemably marred by poor execution. There is a genuine sensation of effort on screen and a select few of the ideas the film touches upon are outright brilliant, but the product still falls remarkably flat. Read full review
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