The Girl
HBO | Release Date: October 20, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Wall Street JournalNancy DeWolf SmithOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: [The best way] to view The Girl as an exquisitely lurid morality play in the Hitchcock style. Read full review
90
VarietyBrian LowryOct 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: The way the movie unfolds is fascinating, featuring the best work of Miller's career, and Jones so inhabiting Hitchcock--trapped within his grotesque frame--as to quickly get past impersonation to a darker portrayal of genius. Read full review
83
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Girl ensures you'll never watch "The Birds" the same way again. Read full review
83
NewsdayVerne GayOct 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: Film lovers will--possibly against their better judgment--love Jones' Hitch. Read full review
80
Denver PostJoanne OstrowOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Girl, directed by Julian Jarrold, impeccably re-creates the film technology of the time. It also delivers a psychologically astute reading of one of Hollywood's more bizarre entanglements. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleyOct 17, 2012
Season 1 Review: Superb performances by Toby Jones as Hitchcock and Sienna Miller as Hedren keep the story alive and moving. Read full review
75
Uncle BarkyEd BarkOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Real truths invariably come out, and this is a film that convincingly rings with them. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert BiancoOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Graced by strong performances from Sienna Miller and Toby Jones as Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock, this backstage story of Hollywood sexual obsession is never less than enjoyable. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda StasiOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Sienna Miller [is] halfway believable but missing what Hitchcock called "the volcano inside." Jones, however, is spectacular. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDaniel GoldbergOct 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Girl doesn't aim to match Hitchcock's thrills or entertainment value, and its psychological insights are never truly cathartic. As a solidly well-measured portrait of a caged and ambitious young actress, however, it has a way of staying with you, especially the parts you'd rather erase. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: If you approach The Girl as a sliver, and don't expect a full serving, you are more apt to appreciate it. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: At just 90 minutes, The Girl can feel rushed and only occasionally convinces us that an actual movie is being made--this is so focused on Hitch-and-Tippi you'd think The Birds was a one-woman show. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerOct 16, 2012
Season 1 Review: This TV movie directed by Julian Jarrold focuses on the making of The Birds and Marnie, not two of the filmmaker's finest, and depicts Hitch as a self-pitying lecher. He might have been, though here, he's a dull one. Read full review
60
SlateTroy PattersonOct 23, 2012
Season 1 Review: This HBO original [is] clean and smart and dull. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyOct 23, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's disappointing that this is a diverting curio rather than a deep plunge into the cold waters of obsession. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert LloydOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: Neither the script nor the production is substantial enough to make the story quite stand on its own. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's a small character study about a large man who comes off as a terrorizing buffoon. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAlessandra StanleyOct 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: The music, costumes, lighting and even some camera shots--a shower head, a spiral staircase--all evoke classic Hitchcock movies like "Psycho," "Spellbound" and "Vertigo." But the film loses steam as soon as Hitchcock acts on his passion. Read full review
50
People WeeklyTom GliattoOct 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: Miller is believably blonde, and that's about it. [22 Oct 3012, p.42]
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzOct 19, 2012
Season 1 Review: It plays more like a lavishly funded Lifetime movie. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandOct 18, 2012
Season 1 Review: It creeps and creeps in a very petty pace until it puts itself out of its misery, and ours. Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 92 The Pitt: Season 2
2 90 The Celebrity Traitors UK: Season 1
3 89 Rivals
4 87 Hacks: Season 5
5 87 Industry: Season 4
6 87 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal:...
7 85 The Beatles Anthology
8 85 The Traitors [UK]: Season 4
9 85 Bait: Season 1
10 84 Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
11 83 Lord of the Flies
12 83 Riot Women: Season 1
13 83 For All Mankind: Season 5
14 81 The Muppet Show (2026)
15 80 Outlander (2014): Season 8
16 80 The Other Bennet Sister: Season 1
17 80 The Mighty Nein: Season 1
18 80 The Comeback: Season 3
19 80 The American Revolution
20 80 One Piece (2023): Season 2
SEE ALL