80
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThis unexpected masterpiece was assembled so quickly that it has an improvisational feel and a surrealist capacity to access its own unconscious—traits it shares with Feuillade's work.
- 90The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsA funny and fascinatingly open-ended look at the state of the art, Irma Vep is well worth a look.
- 90The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe film is a true torchbearer of the French New Wave—playful, restless, full of invention, and born of an overwhelming discontent for the status quo.
- 88Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe post-modern compulsions on display here may bring movies together, but they also keep people apart. Irma Vep is a picture of missed connections and tenuous relationships, most touchingly in the scenes between Cheung and Zoe (Nathalie Richard), her smitten costume designer.
- 80Time OutTime OutA delightfully nonchalant movie, complete with some nice satirical barbs aimed at contemporary French film culture, and fine performances throughout.
- 80TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxCheung, slinking around the corridors of her hotel in her sheath of shiny black latex to the dissonant chords of Sonic Youth, is an instant icon of everything.
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinA minor but witty entry on the exceptionally strong slate of French films at the New York Film Festival this year.
- 70VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyA slender but appealing divertissement about a has-been auteur attempting to remake the French silent classic "Les Vampires," the film's wry digs at the institution of Gallic art movies and at the anarchic confusion of the filmmaking process should amuse hip fest audiences.
- 70SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinAn overpraised yet amusing satire.
- 60EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonUltimately, Irma Vep doesn't quite have the courage of its convictions, but still provides plenty of scathing satire on the state of French cinema.