The Sea Beast
Netflix | Release Date: June 24, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiJul 12, 2022
What makes it practically perfect is that it accomplishes everything it sets out to do. It is funny, exciting, beautiful, and all-around meaningful. Read full review
90
Screen DailyWendy IdeJun 20, 2022
The latest animation from Chris Williams, his first for Netflix, is a rambunctious triumph; an old-fashioned ripping yarn which pays tribute to generations of monster movies past, showcasing some genuinely dazzling animation while also delivering an unexpectedly sophisticated message. Read full review
85
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJul 6, 2022
A delightful new-school deconstruction of old-school Romantic adventure that never compromises on the lushness of setting, color and emotion inherent in the latter, The Sea Beast rises to the front of Netflix’s animated offerings like a high tide. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonJun 30, 2022
Overall, the narrative, performative, and visual splendor of The Sea Beast are enough to vastly outweigh minor issues in presentational consistency. This is a richly realized nautical world, with the animation team expressing an obvious love for the adventure stories that inspired it and a passion for telling a story as hopeful as it is exciting. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 13, 2022
Unlike many modern-day animated films, which find inspiration in fantasy and present us with unique, fanciful designs, the world of The Sea Beast is so realistically rendered, so detailed and physical, that much of the time it feels like a live-action adventure. It’s so thoroughly immersive it might make you believe in sea monsters. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJul 8, 2022
Good news for both lubbers and sea dogs. The recent cutbacks in Netflix’s animation department came too late to condemn this lavish, funny, playful adventure to the briny depths. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaJul 7, 2022
While the film’s dialogue and characters aren’t exactly unique, its visuals are remarkable and it’s actually about something. It’s a ripping yarn, a gorgeously rendered kaiju adventure on the high seas that uses fantasy to ask pertinent questions about the stories we believe, and who benefits from that belief. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJun 27, 2022
The film features dazzling action and a fantasy world that is realised with an almost tactile level of detail. Seek it out on a monster-size screen if at all possible. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJun 24, 2022
In terms of sheer energy and invention, it more than holds its own, and boasts action scenes whose wit, vibrancy and gracefulness make Lightyear look low on batteries. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinJun 22, 2022
The Sea Beast gets the balance just right between rollicking action scenes, the inevitable didactic anti-hunting message about respecting other species’ right to exist and family-friendly humour. Read full review
80
SlashfilmRafael MotamayorJun 16, 2022
The result is a movie that's as fun as it has things to say, a true animated blockbuster that could play like gangbusters in multiplexes (if there is any indication from the world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where the crowd went wild towards the climax of the film), and lingers on your mind long after the credits roll. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 16, 2022
In the end, The Sea Beast is a movie about challenging conventional wisdom and figuring things out for yourself, and that’s a philosophy that worked on both sides of the camera. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJul 8, 2022
The animated movies that have sustained in history trust children to follow complex plots and themes. It’s great to see that kind of trust reemerge in a film that never forgets to be entertaining too. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJul 7, 2022
It tells a simple but epic story against the backdrop of a well-realized fantasy world, it does so at a measured pace that provokes the imagination rather than pummeling it into submission, and it stays on course by leveraging spectacular action (highlighted by several blistering pirate fights and a PG-rated kaiju brawl) into an effective fable about the perils of inherited prejudice. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJul 6, 2022
The Sea Beast is notable for its refusal to dumb itself down for a young audience. It’s anchored by interesting and fairly complex characters who actually have arcs to play. Read full review
67
The PlaylistAsher LubertoJul 14, 2022
The plot moves as briskly as a ship sailing across the sea, which should please young viewers. While The Sea Beast has some timely messages, it’s mainly just a chance to escape from our living rooms. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 11, 2022
Charm and humor are in shorter supply than you’d hope. There’s barely a funny moment in it, even though there are English-accented attempts at jokes about how often sailors say “Yarrrr,” and a cute baby beast is introduced, right on cue, in the later acts. Read full review
60
PolygonJesse HassengerJul 14, 2022
Like The Prince of Egypt or Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas before it, The Sea Beast ditches talking animals and funny sidekicks, but it can’t fully shake off its Disney influences. It’s a whole lot of well-animated beasts and water, with nowhere to flow. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJul 7, 2022
High-seas adventure meets message movie. The adventures are good. So’s the message. The problem is that they’re sailing in different directions. Read full review
40
The New York TimesLena WilsonJul 7, 2022
This script’s greatest sin is its steadfast predictability. Read full review
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