54
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghLike "Secret Things," the film is ultimately infuriating, subtle, self-indulgent, astute and disingenuous, which makes for great -- if divisive -- conversation.
- 70SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirA luminous picture, beautifully made, loaded with symbolism and mystical-religious imagery, about an artist's self-destructive quest for an unreachable grail. It's also a deliberately prurient spectacle designed to be arousing and troubling -- most viewers, I imagine, will have both reactions at various times (and maybe at the same time).
- 70VarietyLisa NesselsonVarietyLisa NesselsonBrisseau trains his deft camera on the crescendo of female sexual pleasure and how women can heighten the intensity of already blissful sensations via transgressive flourishes. If exiting viewers could all be asked "Was it good for you?" the likely answer is "Yes."
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottOne of Mr. Brisseau's subjects is the volatility of desire, the way the path of erotic curiosity can swerve from satisfaction into recrimination and confusion. A porno-philosopher in the venerable French tradition, he blends a frank appeal to the audience's nether regions with some teasing attention to its mind.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceOne audaciously, endearingly ludicrous movie.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterAlternately provocative and highly silly, the film overcomes its more ludicrous aspects through its glossy visual style, its frequent doses of humor and the obvious associations it evokes to its creator's real-life experiences.
- 50New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoBrisseau obviously aims to shock - and he does. Now shocking is A-OK with me - but only if it's part of a something bigger. Exterminating Angels is beautifully lensed and acted, but it lacks substance.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe new movie, for all its huffing and puffing, explores very little, even if some of it is sexy in a Howard Stern-meets-"9 1?2Weeks" way.
- 50New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsSoft porn for people who like to watch - and want to be punished for it.
- 30New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinExterminating Angels is meant as an autocritique--and yet the director can't get past his notion of himself as a fearlessly transgressive artist-hero, a martyr to the limitations of male gaze.