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STOKERMovie Reviews
Thriller about a young woman who grows increasingly infatuated with the mysterious uncle who comes to live with her family following her father's sudden death. Cast:Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska, Dermot Mulroney, Matthew Goode, Jacki Weaver, Lucas Till, Alden Ehrenreich, Judith Godrèche, Ralph Brown, Phyllis Somerville, William Ryan Watson, Wendy Keeling, Lauren E. Roman, Bear Sheeley, Harry P. CastrosDirector:Park Chan-wookRelease Date:March 1, 2013DVD Release:June 18, 2013From:Fox SearchlightRating:RLength:1 hr 38 min
Stoker, Good (Not Great) Reviews, Mixed Key Cities
Stoker played in key cities to good not great reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Steven Rea wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "A beautifully twisted, slow-burning psychothriller.... Wasikowska, without saying much, oozes an artsy lonely-girl vibe..." • And Mara Reinstein wrote in Us Weekly, "There's a fine line between stylishly goth and flat-out perverse, and this thriller crosses it." More Reviews Below...
Alynda Wheat, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The script, from Wentworth Miller, leans heavily on Hitchcock. But Mia Wasikowska shines in a movie that mixes a coming-of-age yarn with horror and black comedy."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 79 words, 02/28/13
Richard Corliss, Time: VERY GOOD "Lovely to look at.... It's not pure Park or pure Hitchcock but a muted, mildly mesmerizing blend of the two. You might want to take a careful stroll in this Hitchpark."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,386 words, 03/01/13
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...adds up to something largely because of Mia Wasikowska's deft, coming-of-age performance. The movie is an exquisitely made grotesque that crawls up your leg."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 675 words, 02/28/13
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "There's a fine line between stylishly goth and flat-out perverse, and this thriller crosses it.... Any sense of deft storytelling gets sidelined in favor of off-putting imagery..."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 126 words, 02/21/13
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: FAIR(cg) "The central situation remains obvious beyond words. There is no mystery here, only 'style,' and a stultifying sense that the world's been rigged with evil."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 153 words, 03/01/13
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Park has built a hothouse of erotic tension that's primed to explode. Some will find it too much. Screw them. Park's goal is to bust form, not conform to it."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 352 words, 03/01/13
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "Just because something is unsettling doesn't make it involving.... Blood-spattered, sadistic and tedious... more fragmented than frightening."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 564 words, 03/01/13
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The material itself, while aspiring to some level of mysterioso, is about as blunt and obvious as the hammer that figures so prominently in Chan-wook's prior 'Old Boy.' "(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 602 words, 02/27/13
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD(cg) "...deliciously demented, and that's a good thing.... takes us into 'Carrie' territory without the supernatural element.... unpredictable..."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 731 words, 03/13/13
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a fascinating thriller that's expertly constructed to elicit darker emotions, rather than simple spine tingles.... a unique vision... age 17."(See all of Jeffrey M. Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 482 words, 03/14/13
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "Mr. Park takes his time with revelations that are both ghastly and a bit disappointing.... the final act walks a fine line between the sensational and the silly."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 03/01/13
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Full of heavingly gorgeous images that envelop a viewer before smothering them, its maddening elements eventually become too much to bear.... crazily macabre..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 452 words, 03/01/13
Sara Stewart, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...for my money, this movie belongs alongside 'Secretary,' 'Ginger Snaps' and 'Thirteen' in the family of deliciously dark female coming-of-age stories."(See all of Sara Stewart's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 03/01/13
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Densely plotted, though not exactly full of surprises.... Nobody on screen seems entirely at home in the chosen (or guessed-at) style."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 387 words, 03/01/13
John Anderson, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Park creates and sustains a mood... the actors struggle valiantly to give some emotional texture to a story that, ultimately, defeats itself."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 260 words, 03/15/13
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: POOR "The problem with Park Chan-Wook is that there's no real drama in his worldview. The drive toward cruelty is absolute -- and in this case, absolutely boring."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 775 words, 02/25/13
Nick Schager, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...often feels like a gorgeously rendered put-on, an exercise in play-acting various familiar scenarios devoid of heft or even sincerity."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 774 words, 02/27/13
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "Nobody does quite what you expect they will and actions have unexpected reactions, usually visceral ones. There are also moments of strange beauty..."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 537 words, 03/01/13
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "It's gorgeous to gaze upon but otherwise dessicated - listless, juiceless and ultimately pointless.... there's no motion, or emotion, in the picture."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 494 words, 03/01/13
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Though the close-ups are lovely, they tend to slow the film, which rolls out its plot at a snail's pace.... you have plenty of time to puzzle over details..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 229 words, 02/28/13
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: WEAK(cg) "Park tries way too hard to turn something that's just not that scary into a beautiful nightmare.... The images may be haunting, but the events aren't."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 544 words, 03/15/13
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "A beautifully twisted, slow-burning psychothriller.... Wasikowska, without saying much, oozes an artsy lonely-girl vibe -- but she's witty about it, too."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 560 words, 03/15/13
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Kidman's performance is among her career-defining roles.... Matthew Goode is diabolical.... But this is Wasikowska's film.... mysterious, demanding, richly rewarding."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 527 words, 03/15/13
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...beautiful, in an unsettling sort of way.... if the destination isn't what it might have been, the journey is a heck of a ride."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 585 words, 03/15/13
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "The performances are excellent, but it's the direction that lifts the movie up and spins it around.... You feel you're in the hands of a master without scruples..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 661 words, 03/01/13
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Park isn't interested in simply trendy material and edgy effects; a former philosophy student, he wants to weave it all into a genuinely disturbing drama."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 588 words, 03/01/13
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...it's both horrible and beautiful. It might even be original.... But having established a mood, the film just stays there, hovers there, sinks there and drowns there."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 527 words, 03/15/13
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "...you wish the talented Australian trio at its center (Wasikowska, Kidman and Jacki Weaver as a concerned aunt) were engaged in something more intriguing."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 277 words, 03/15/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "Park's cool, almost languorous sense of menace had no problems clearing customs, but his serpentine sense of story must have been stuck in quarantine."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 399 words, 03/15/13
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a horror movie for film snobs.... Like a taxidermied owl, it is lovely to look at, but in the end it's hard to give a hoot."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 03/15/13
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a hot mess of horror, passion and insanity that may turn off as many viewers as it turns on. But it certainly isn't boring."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 297 words, 03/21/13
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a film of quiet eroticism, sudden violence and awkward silences. None of it is life-changing, but it is effectively eerie. Stylishly spooky, even."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 285 words, 03/15/13
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...stylish... engages your brain instead of your emotions.... revels in the soul-deep darkness always hidden in the best works of psychological suspense."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 03/22/13
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (8 Reviews)
Nick Schager, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...often feels like a gorgeously rendered put-on, an exercise in play-acting various familiar scenarios devoid of heft or even sincerity."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 774 words, 02/27/13
Eric Eisenberg, Cinema Blend: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...generates genuine terror from flawless filmmaking, a collection of outstanding performances and a story of bubbling monstrosity and bad blood."(See all of Eric Eisenberg's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 549 words, 02/28/13
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the power of the dream-like imagery lingers... the horror felt is not visceral, but metaphysical.... has few rivals in evoking the terror and delight of a deranged mind."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 317 words, 02/28/13
Tasha Robinson, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "The strength is all in the execution, particularly Matthew Goode's steely-but-smiling performance and Mia Wasikowska's sullen, reluctantly captivated response."(See all of Tasha Robinson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 381 words, 02/28/13
Zeba Blay, Slant: MODERATE(cg) "Park's eye seems to capture the banal, the beautiful, and the grotesque all at once... the stylish direction overwhelms the story's mystery... emotionally hollow..."(See all of Zeba Blay's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 382 words, 01/23/13
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Though the close-ups are lovely, they tend to slow the film, which rolls out its plot at a snail's pace.... you have plenty of time to puzzle over details..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 229 words, 02/28/13
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The film never achieves the wild catharsis of Park's best Korean work, but for a while fosters in the audience a healthy mistrust of reality."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 497 words, 03/14/13
HIGHBROW PRESS (6 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...spontaneity has been banished by rigid stylization... as lifeless as a severed head that turns up in a basement freezer. None of this is Ms. Wasikowska's fault..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 492 words, 03/01/13
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "Mr. Park takes his time with revelations that are both ghastly and a bit disappointing.... the final act walks a fine line between the sensational and the silly."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 03/01/13
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: MODERATE "The eye of the beholder is relentlessly dazzled, but to what end?... a fine array of visual and auditory effects, their beauty adrift on a wave of preposterous narrative."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 545 words, 03/04/13
Scott Tobias, NPR: VERY GOOD "Park is the magician pulling a deft sleight of hand, waiting until the very last moment to reveal that all is illusion.... an intoxicating brew."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 579 words, 02/28/13
Guy Lodge, Variety: EXCELLENT "...a splendidly demented gumbo of Hitchcock thriller, American Gothic fairy tale and a contemporary kink all Park's own.... exquisitely designed and scored..."(See all of Guy Lodge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 744 words, 01/21/13
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "Park Chan-wook's unsettling visuals and his handling of the cast make the occasional holes in Wentworth Miller's script practically irrelevant."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 379 words, 01/21/13
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: EXCELLENT(cg) "...an impressively mounted Gothic mystery that works on any number of levels, as a family melodrama as well as a fairytale, full of manifest and latent meanings."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 339 words, 02/26/13
A.O. Scott, New York Times: MODERATE "Mr. Park takes his time with revelations that are both ghastly and a bit disappointing.... the final act walks a fine line between the sensational and the silly."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 03/01/13
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...spontaneity has been banished by rigid stylization... as lifeless as a severed head that turns up in a basement freezer. None of this is Ms. Wasikowska's fault..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 492 words, 03/01/13
21.4 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Stoker's reviews are separated by an average 21.4 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Stoker (48 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Stoker's reviews cover 95.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 24,195 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 504 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 2.9 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Stoker's reviews on average broke 2.9 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Stoker's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
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