61
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkDemystifying the backroom deals of film financing, Bateman has crafted an authentic-looking and -feeling commentary on show business designed perhaps to make the kinds of acquisition professionals and insiders who attend festivals and film markets uncomfortable.
- 75ObserverSiddhant AdlakhaObserverSiddhant AdlakhaViolet’s editing and texture effectively convey what the character is feeling, and while its noncommittal camera choices occasionally prevent the viewer from feeling it alongside her, Munn’s performance, and the film’s eventual narrative trajectory, are incisive enough to get around its visual shortcomings.
- 70Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonOlivia Munn is quite touching as the title character, and the picture cleverly dramatises the conflicting thoughts that bounce around inside us and, often, dictate our lives.
- 70TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanTheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanBecause Munn wisely underplays, she’s able to creep across the high-wire Bateman has stretched out, in which Violet perpetually balances deadpan external calm with overwhelming internal detonation.
- 67IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandWhile Bateman’s more florid touches sometimes wear, Munn is so devastatingly good at selling Violet’s internal strife that it’s easy to forgive Bateman’s other creative impulses. With a star this well-suited for the role, Bateman has already proven her salt as a keen-eyed filmmaker.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerMunn’s exquisitely readable face, which cycles through emotional states with delicate flickers, is Bateman’s strongest asset. Her weakest is her storytelling.
- 60VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThere’s bravery in Bateman’s willingness to explore this state of mind, to put so much of herself on the table, but she rolls credits just as things were getting interesting: when Violet blocks out the voices and finally starts listening to herself.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe story itself finally feels lost beneath the levels of artifice rather than heightened by it.
- 50The PlaylistKristy PuchkoThe PlaylistKristy PuchkoIn the end, Violet feels less like a film than a pitch meeting. A frenzied flurry of ideas, devices, and character sketches chucked out to see what sticks. It’s flashy, but not fascinating, which leaves this drama of inner conflict and deep thoughts feeling horridly shallow.
- 50The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisCrowding the screen with jarring sounds and disturbing visuals, Bateman experiments with so many cinematic frills and fancies that Munn’s touching work is too often obscured.