The Spine of Night
RLJE Films | Release Date: October 29, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireKambole CampbellMar 22, 2022
The Spine Of Night is here to satiate the cravings of those who miss a particular brand of animated storytelling, updated with added psychedelic fervour and plenty of extra-gnarly bloodshed. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerOct 28, 2021
The longer you are immersed in this exchange of stories, of hope dying against darkness but proving its value just by its glimmers, the more it enthralls. Read full review
75
ObserverRafael MotamayorOct 7, 2021
The Spine of Night serves as an entertaining, action-heavy, gnarly throwback to the hyper-violent, high-fantasy rotoscoped animation of the 1980s that nevertheless suffers from a small production, muddled voice directing, and the usual problems of the animation technique. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 27, 2021
Even if The Spine of Night struggles to align its overarching story with the anthology-like shape that it takes, it’s still rare and rewarding to watch a film that makes so few bones about what it wants to be. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinMar 24, 2022
It’s best not to think too hard about it and just let the striking imagery and saturated colours wash over your retinas. Read full review
50
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiMar 31, 2022
As the film marches to its conclusion, one will have some appreciation for the rotoscoping animation, the score, and the voice work from some of the actors. However, the murky narrative structure and the lack of a central protagonist only works against all the gory goodwill the film possessed. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsOct 29, 2021
The first and maybe biggest problem facing viewers when they watch The Spine of Night is its drab and dramatically inert animation style. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyOct 28, 2021
Alas, all the world-building filmmakers may contrive doesn’t count for much if they don’t put it across visually. And this heavily rotoscoped vision does not get where it needs to be to achieve genuine trippiness. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 26, 2021
The Spine of Night is a reasonably good-looking — and gory — animated sword and sorcery saga for adults, a movie set in a wholly-realized fantasy world, but lacking a story or characters that invite us to invest ourselves in their fate. Read full review
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