The Skeleton Twins
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: September 12, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeySep 11, 2014
One of the better movies to come along this year. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternSep 11, 2014
This is only the second feature for the director: the first was "True Adolescents." But Mr. Johnson's work with his actors is impeccable, and his style is freewheeling. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlSep 9, 2014
What's singular here isn't that the stars are playing brother and sister, or that they stir such sublime and anxious joy from each other. It's that the real love story isn't even between the damaged-but-lovable characters. It's between two profoundly depressed people and life itself. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireSep 12, 2014
As we enter this season of big, important awards contenders that “matter,” The Skeleton Twins is a small, intimate gem that might truly matter. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 12, 2014
This is a smart movie about complicated people in search of something approaching inner peace. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 11, 2014
What raises the movie above the herd and rocks our settled ideas of pop entertainment is the way Hader and Wiig resist the script's pull to tidy things up. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianMarc MohanSep 25, 2014
Wiig, following the big-screen breakthrough of "Bridesmaids," has dipped her toes into dramatic waters, but for Hader, The Skeleton Twins is a revelation. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatySep 3, 2014
It's a shockingly vulnerable performance (Hader), one of the best I've seen all year. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 9, 2015
Wiig and Hader give winning, finely nuanced turns in a film that deftly mixes light and dark. Also features the best use of ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ since Mannequin… Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerNov 3, 2014
An engaging comedy drama lifted by two revelatory performances. Wiig in particular suggests an Academy Award-winner-in-waiting. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 25, 2014
This is a film that deals with suicide, missed chances, depression, infidelity and more. Yet the movie itself isn't depressing, thanks to Hader, Wiig and director and co-writer Craig Johnson. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen HoldenSep 11, 2014
The Skeleton Twins is a well-written and acted movie about contemporary life that doesn’t strain for melodrama and is largely devoid of weepy soap opera theatrics. A small, precise, character-driven vignette, it has no pretensions to make any kind of grand statement about The Way We Live Now. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanSep 11, 2014
We already know Kristen Wiig can act. So the real revelation in The Skeleton Twins is Bill Hader, who turns in a performance so overflowing with poignancy that he deserves to be considered on any early awards list. Read full review
80
VarietyJan 27, 2014
Sibling bonds are fertile territory for indie dramedies, but The Skeleton Twins distinguishes itself from the pack with a pair of knockout performances from “Saturday Night Live” veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 27, 2014
Warm, funny, heartfelt and even uplifting, the film is led by revelatory performances from Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, both of them exploring rewarding new dramatic range without neglecting their mad comedic skills. Read full review
80
The TelegraphAmber WilkinsonJan 27, 2014
Johnson and co-writer Mark Heyman may be exploring familiar territory but they do so with a warmth, subtlety and honesty that marks it out. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaSep 26, 2014
If a movie with suicide as a central theme can be deemed funny, then writer/director Craig Johnson has pulled it off, mixing heartache and humor and giving Wiig, especially, the opportunity to shine. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSep 25, 2014
In a poignant and potentially depressing film, it’s redeeming to see that when they are with their kindred spirits, even the saddest skeletons can dance. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleThomas LeeSep 11, 2014
The Skeleton Twins suffers from a glaring deficit. Suicide is ever present throughout the film, yet Johnson never seriously examines it. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartSep 10, 2014
Finally, a post-“Bridesmaids” film that lets Kristen Wiig shine — and brilliantly taps into co-star Bill Hader’s vulnerable side, too. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasSep 8, 2014
Craig Johnson's film is ultimately most interested in what its jokes are implying or obscuring about the jokesters themselves. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnJan 27, 2014
Judging by Johnson's previous feature, "True Adolescence," he's better at crafting characters with credible problems than finding equally credible ways of exploring them. Fortunately, in the case of Skeleton Twins, the actors do the legwork. Read full review
70
SlateDana StevensSep 11, 2014
I found The Skeleton Twins merely entertaining, but I’d love to see these two actors team up again, Tracy-and-Hepburn style, and make a string of movies together — maybe some that would venture further into the post–rom-com territory this one begins to explore. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 10, 2014
What saves the movie is its actors: Exploiting audience’s memories of their previous collaborations, Hader and Wiig really do seem related. And both actors handle the balance between drama and comedy with aplomb. Read full review
65
Film.comEric D. SniderJan 27, 2014
While it’s only modestly effective at the serious stuff, at least it’s free of sanctimony and preciousness. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 18, 2014
The bitter, funny dialogue by director Craig Johnson and co-writer Mark Heyman gives the two stars room to work both comic and dramatic sides of their gifts. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 11, 2014
And it's too bad The Skeleton Twins settles for tidy, slightly hollow narrative developments. The performers are ready to rip. For many they'll be enough. Read full review
63
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreSep 10, 2014
Skeleton Twins may not be a wholly fleshed-out character study, and nobody here takes a flying leap out of his or her comfort zone. But the timing of this tale of depression, suicide and how vulnerable we all are to our past, our demons and our shortcomings, is enough to recommend this engagingly melancholy comedy. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSep 26, 2014
Still, there's more here to like than to dislike in what ends up being a feel-good movie about a feel-bad topic, a la "Little Miss Sunshine." Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfSep 9, 2014
It helps that Milo (Hader) and Maggie (Wiig) are cranky adult siblings, sharing a whip-crack shorthand that longtime skit partners know how to muster effortlessly. Read full review
58
The PlaylistCory EverettJan 27, 2014
It may not always work as a drama but The Skeleton Twins proves to be a fine showcase for Wiig and Hader, showing they are both capable of dramatic material. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 24, 2014
It’s worth a watch to see these two reliably comic actors do some heavy dramatic lifting and tenderly spot for each other. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan RabinSep 11, 2014
The Skeleton Twins has a pair of terrific, sharply etched lead performances, a polished, autumnal look, and some affecting moments where its protagonists bond. But to borrow a water-based metaphor from the film’s overflowing stock of them, The Skeleton Twins just lies there, cold and clammy, like a dead fish. Read full review
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