The Little Stranger Reviews
October 15, 2020
...the kind of happy surprise one hopes sticks around long enough to find its audience...
August 14, 2020
Abrahamson calmly, coolly creates an atmosphere of dread and doom, as if dark forces are gradually building against the backdrop of the unfolding drama.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
July 25, 2020
[Abrahamson] abandons his human core in favor of technical and atmospheric prowess.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
April 23, 2020
Painfully dull gothic horror that never quite launches. It's boring, harmless and forgettable. [Full review in Spanish].
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
March 4, 2020
The players are technically impressive but fail to make any significant emotional impact.
August 19, 2019
The Little Stranger is a slow-moving, mysterious horror film that spends most of its 101-minute running time building suspense.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
July 3, 2019
There are moments of stark, unexpected violence, and chilling moments that hint at the ghosts within, but mostly The Little Stranger is a horror mystery that revels in its ambiguity. But the near two hour run time feels overlong.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
June 5, 2019
Casting issues aside, Abrahamson delivers an engrossing dark tale of the struggle to find solid ground when all around crumbles in a gothic maelstrom.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
April 22, 2019
After building up a nail-biting suspense and hinting a hidden horrors, psychological or supernatural, it fails to commit to either of those paths, wavering between them until it merely rolls to an unsatisfying conclusion.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
February 8, 2019
Atmospheric, well-acted and rewards your patience with an intelligent, unusual ending.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
January 22, 2019
After the credits roll it's Ruth Wilson's captivating performance that will resonate above all else.
Full Review
| Original Score: 6/10
January 22, 2019
Gleeson's performance anchors the film masterfully.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
January 10, 2019
More inanimate than haunting, The Little Stranger is Abrahamson's least interesting feature.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/10
December 22, 2018
The slow yet steady pace is an asset, but the story only feels half-formed and the ending hits with all the force of a wet tissue.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
December 6, 2018
It's a curious atmospheric but flawed psychodrama.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
December 4, 2018
Despite so much leaning in its favour, The Little Stranger ends up being bland, lifeless and, sadly, disappointing.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/10
November 27, 2018
Gleeson's Faraday is often emotionally inert and the movie follows his example. Even during its darkest or scariest moments, it seems allergic to letting its heart rate accelerate.
October 25, 2018
If you are patient, this is a film that delivers chills in ways you won't quite expect.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
October 15, 2018
The Little Stranger is an intriguing film, but not a great one. At times, though, its atmosphere will creep under the skin -- of attentive viewers, at least.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7/10
October 11, 2018
One will wonder whether Lenny Abrahamson has his heart in all this way, way more than whether if the establishment has an (alleged) unwelcoming-presence problem.
Full Review
| Original Score: D+