The Observer (UK)'s Scores

Select another publication »
For 1,640 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 Enys Men
Lowest review score: 20 Book Club: The Next Chapter
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 893 out of 1640
  2. Mixed: 714 out of 1640
  3. Negative: 33 out of 1640
1640 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. Wildland
    This lean Danish drama is not wholly original – David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom is an obvious comparison – but it’s a tense, suspenseful piece of storytelling and a showcase for a treacherously mercurial performance from Knudsen as the fearsome matriarch.
  2. The Courier
    With slack pacing and insufficient focus, the film lacks the crackle of tension and propulsive efficiency of something like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
  3. WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn
    The film is fascinating on cult capitalism and the power of personality as a marketing tool for an otherwise unremarkable business plan.
  4. CODA
    The film is a meticulously, perhaps even cynically crafted crowd-pleaser. Even those alive to its tactics might find themselves wiping away a tear or two.
  5. I'm Your Man
    It asks pertinent questions about loneliness and a world in which algorithms can know us better than our human partners ever will.
  6. Free Guy
    There are thematic parallels with everything from The Lego Movie to The Matrix, but key to its appeal is an unabashed sweetness and goofy enthusiasm that proves irresistible.
  7. Zola
    What makes this particular adaptation, co-written by Bravo and Jeremy O Harris, sing is the fact that, while it winks at Twitter with a smattering of emojis, it’s the legitimacy of Zola’s voice, rather than the means of its dissemination, which is prioritised.
  8. Last Letter from Your Lover
    Indecision and miscommunication, it turns out, are timeless. Sexiness less so, with Jones and Rizwan not quite able to summon the smouldering chemistry of Woodley and Turner.
  9. Profile
    The ratcheting tension is sadly punctured by unintentionally hilarious scenes of ambitious “research” by journalist Amy (Valene Kane), mostly involving frantic Googling and YouTube tutorials on “how to look younger”.
  10. Stillwater
    Directed by Oscar-winner Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), this is a thoughtful, knotty character study, albeit one nestled inside a polished, and less interesting, action thriller.
  11. The Sparks Brothers
    From bucket-of-water tomfoolery to visually inventive biography and witty musicology, this really does have something for the girl with everything.
  12. Jungle Cruise
    Director Jaume Collet-Serra creates a romp of a picture booby-trapped with adventure movie tropes (arcane curses, snakes, evil Germans) which, while they might seem familiar to Indiana Jones fans, still combine to make for a decent family flick.
  13. Old
    If we can’t believe the characters, how are we meant to accept the film’s central premise?
  14. Spirit Untamed
    Handsome animation adds to the appeal of this sequel to the 2002 animation Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, but this is family entertainment that’s quite niche in its appeal – pony-mad kids will love it, but it may test the patience of parents.
  15. The Suicide Squad
    The Suicide Squad has found its place in the superhero pantheon: the gutter, and proud.
  16. Night of the Kings
    This portrayal of imprisonment may be authentically down to earth (Blackbeard’s rival Lass wants inmates to be managed “more rationally”, not as enslaved people but “customers”), but Night of the Kings proves most captivating in evoking the transformative power of the imagination.
  17. Off the Rails
    Bickering middle-aged women obsessing over travel arrangements is not entertainment, it’s a living hell.
  18. Bye Bye Morons
    It’s amiable enough, but this broad French comedy is not distinctive enough for the arthouse crowd, and too Gallic for the mainstream.
  19. The World to Come
    This is a singularly subdued kind of storytelling. Passions run deep, but there’s a reticence in the film-making that makes them feel like a whispered secret in a church pew rather than a grand, soul-baring declaration.
  20. Here We Are
    Beautifully observed and saturated with warmth, this tender family drama gradually reveals the fact that it is Aharon, as much as Uri, who depends on their relationship.
  21. Riders of Justice
    We laugh, partly, from relief at escaping the unimaginable.
  22. Nowhere Special
    The film is understated rather than mawkish.
  23. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s feature debut intertwines music and politics in one of the best concert movies of all time.
  24. The Croods: A New Age
    The film’s second half suffers from frantic pacing and overstuffed action sequences.
  25. Deerskin
    Dujardin plays it ingeniously straight, embarking on a violent rampage set to French lounge music.
  26. The Forever Purge
    The cartoonish tone of the relentless violence feels at odds with the otherwise sombre, apocalyptic mood.
  27. Space Jam: A New Legacy
    James’s natural charisma should allow the film to soar but he’s bogged down by an avalanche of distracting cameos, from Gremlins to Game of Thrones.
  28. The Truffle Hunters
    Every bit as immersive as Victor Kossakovsky’s recent documentary Gunda, about a sow and her piglets, The Truffle Hunters serves as a timely reminder that the world does not turn to the industrialised rhythms of mankind alone, and that we lose track of its natural heartbeat at our peril.
  29. The Surrogate
    Writer-director Jeremy Hersh tackles the intersection of race, sexuality, class and disability with rare nuance in this wry indie drama, which observes sharply the trappings of millennial entitlement and liberal hypocrisy.
  30. Tove
    Alma Pöysti is luminous as Jansson, bringing to life her playful, pleasure-seeking artist’s spirit.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »