The King: Critic Reviews

100%

MovieWeb: 0 reviews

56%

RottenTomatoes: 83 reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

42

Just about the only way to make sense of the film is to view its Christian family the way that the director, James Marsh, does -- with a contempt masquerading as social criticism.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Manohla Dargis New York Times (Top Critic)

60

While the appealing Mr. Bernal can do little with the cruel task he has been given, the rest of the cast, particularly Mr. Hurt and Mr. Dano, invest their characters with real feeling.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Peter Bradshaw Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

Full Review » 6 years ago
Desson Thomson Washington Post (Top Critic)

[Marsh] and co-writer Milo Addica display such contempt for their characters and religious conviction in general, they reduce everything to one-note banality.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Wesley Morris Boston Globe (Top Critic)

50

He's played morally unsettled men before, but Marsh doesn't bring a sense of torment or menace out of Bernal the way other directors have.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Michael Atkinson Village Voice (Top Critic)

A rather beautifully produced indie mix of melodrama, ethnographic detail, and modern Southern gothic.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Jack Mathews New York Daily News (Top Critic)

75

Surely among the darkest-themed movies ever made, British director James Marsh's The King is the jaw-dropping story of a born-again Christian facing the sins of his past in ways unimaginable.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Bruce Westbrook Houston Chronicle (Top Critic)

50

The web gets more tangled until, midway through, the drama drops and the film becomes yet another bloody horror show.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Philip Wuntch Dallas Morning News (Top Critic)

42

Its attempts at symbolism regarding sin and faith are astoundingly heavy-handed and further dampened by an ending that will be greeted with either silence or sneers.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Michael Booth Denver Post (Top Critic)

63

A showcase for big ideas that winds up feeling empty.
Full Review » 6 years ago
David Edelstein New York Magazine (Top Critic)

The director, James Marsh (who wrote the script with Milo Addica), is a genius at keeping both levels in focus -- the conventional thwarted romance on top, the unholy mythic horror show under the surface.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

88

It's the kind of work where characters develop on their own, without consulting the book of cliches.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

63

Disturbing, but not haunting or soul-scorching, which is obviously what the filmmakers wanted.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer (Top Critic)

88

Chilling and compelling.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Colin Covert Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top Critic)

75

It is an intelligent, disturbing thriller.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Rex Reed New York Observer (Top Critic)

The movie grows mean-spirited and ugly instead of psychologically stimulating or emotionally sound.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Todd McCarthy Variety (Top Critic)

The story of a veritable devil who comes to test and destroy a family of faith, The King is a noxious film morally and an aggravating one dramatically.
Full Review » 7 years ago
Kyle Smith New York Post (Top Critic)

25

There is no tragedy without character, yet the way The King drapes heavy situations around its feebly imagined personalities suggests a tire thrown around the neck of a poodle.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Peter Howell Toronto Star (Top Critic)

75

A deeply involving film where intentions are as cryptic as the title, and the reckoning of past sins opens fresh wounds.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Liam Lacey Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

75

Even if the filmmakers are to be distrusted as slumming ethnological tourists, they treat the message of religious fundamentalism seriously.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Ray Bennett Hollywood Reporter (Top Critic)

The film is an accomplished piece of mischief making that directly confronts religious conviction, in this case Christian, with its worst nightmare: can you really forgive evil?
Full Review » 7 years ago
Associated Press (Top Critic)

50

This story of a prodigal son returning to wreak havoc devolves into pointless and preposterous nastiness.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Carina Chocano Los Angeles Times (Top Critic)

70

A dark and deeply unsettling movie with its roots in classical tragedy.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Brian Marder Hollywood.com

100

Full Review » 4 years ago
Urban Cinefile Critics Urban Cinefile

Full Review » 4 years ago