Critic Reviews
44
Metascore
Mixed or Average
positive
4(20%)
mixed
11(55%)
negative
5(25%)
Showing 20 Critic Reviews
88
An engrossing examination of the elemental forces that define human nature.
75
Works as Gothic melodrama because it understands the genre so well.
70
Adapted from Valerie Martin's psychosexual novel, this maudlin film transforms the legend of Jekyll and Hyde into a talky romantic love triangle. [23 Feb 1996]
63
Mary Reilly is a thinking person's horror movie, done with such obvious intelligence and artistry that it feels strange to watch it and be so unmoved. [23 Feb 1996]
60
Too bad the overreaching script has to go after effects recalling "Alien," but as a stylistic exercise this still has its chills.
60
This isn't afraid to be a horror movie.
60
A gloomy film with a story whose outcome... is an especially foregone conclusion.
50
There is nothing to be embarrassed about here, neither is there much to relish, for Mary Reilly has more of the sheen of art than its essence.
50
The film is too mannered, too stuffy. Even Malkovich's interesting performance won't let it break free of a formal style and cloyingly creepy tone that becomes precious while trying to be merely claustrophobic.
50
Relentlessly gray and paralyzed by narrative inertia, it collapses under the weight of its stars.
