59
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterAn intense combination of apocalyptic nightmare and family psychodrama. ... A provocative, rigorously composed film that confirms Paxton as a singular talent after a string of award-winning shorts.
- 80The New York TimesLena WilsonThe New York TimesLena WilsonYou’re likely to leave this film starving for answers, but that hunger can be just as stimulating as it is burdensome.
- 75The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakAll four main actors deliver great performances.
- 67Original-CinThom ErnstOriginal-CinThom ErnstHorror fans will find that Paxton's film is not a straight-ahead feast of digestible thrills and chills. Others might perceive it as an acquired taste. A Banquet requires a deliberate decision to watch as it doesn't pair well with distractions and traditional expectations.
- 60VarietyCourtney HowardVarietyCourtney HowardThe filmmakers raise some interesting points, but it becomes an exercise in frustration to interpret the calculated connection between disordered eating, the metaphysical, and religious, medieval martyrdom. With nary any tangible scares, or much to truly unnerve or unsettle except from an empathetic humanistic standpoint, this feature-length directorial debut is assured, but far too ambiguous for its own good.
- 60Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLos Angeles TimesNoel MurrayMuted and ambiguous — sometimes to a fault — “A Banquet” is well acted and well crafted and should resonate with viewers who have had experiences similar to those of the movie’s perpetually anxious mother.
- 58IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandThe film rockets toward an ending that’s somehow both sewed right up and blown wide open. Since neither interpretation really satisfies, it dilutes much of the creepy power that has come before. Instead, Bull’s script offers answers no one asked for.
- 50Paste MagazineMatt DonatoPaste MagazineMatt DonatoThere are glimpses of comparably daydreamy thrillers like Come True or The Feast that give themselves to the fantasy of mania, but A Banquet fails to grab attention like these more ambitious companions. It all builds up to a cinematic Irish exit.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJustin Bull’s screenplay comes up short, failing to adequately capture the depth of its teen’s encounter with the abyss — her anorexia is the aftermath of an apocalyptic revelation — and to integrate it into the more comprehensible domestic tensions that serve as the plotless film’s only framework.
- 40Austin ChronicleJenny NulfAustin ChronicleJenny NulfDespite Paxton’s high ambitions to serve up be the next great elevated horror movie, there’s not enough meat on its bones to ultimately feel satisfying when the final holy image is served.