Special Treatment
Metascore
49 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    Sep 15, 2011
    80
    Special Treatment is a serious film, but Labrune allows a touch of dark comedy in her depictions of Alice's clients and Xavier's patients.
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    Oct 5, 2011
    75
    At the end, there is no great revelation, but Huppert has succeeded once again in making us wonder what's going on in there.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
    Oct 6, 2011
    70
    Though the parallels drawn between therapy and prostitution grow tiresome, the duo's interaction is peppered with inspired comedic moments.
  4. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Alison Willmore
    Aug 24, 2011
    67
    French drama Special Treatment draws a brazenly provocative parallel between the professions of psychiatry and prostitution.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Michael Nordine
    Aug 22, 2011
    63
    A portrait of gender-and job-transcending ennui, Special Treatment paints a vulgar picture of two apparently interwoven professions: prostitutes and shrinks.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    Aug 23, 2011
    50
    That's why Special Treatment is so disheartening. The film, starring Huppert, quickly telegraphs that its ideas are too shallow for a talent as deep as hers.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Boyd van Hoeij
    Aug 23, 2011
    50
    Again co-written by and co-starring writer-thesp Richard Debuisne, picture has some of the duo's trademark sharp dialogue but again fails to fully come together on a narrative level.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    Aug 25, 2011
    40
    A story that should have been a taut poker-faced French farce that pushed its premise to the brink of absurdity stalls, unsure of its balance between comedy and drama. The movie's one reliable constant is Ms. Huppert. You can't take your eyes off her, even when she is misused and misdirected.
  9. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    Aug 24, 2011
    40
    Director Jeanne Labrune (Vatel) makes the most out of having a compellingly watchable movie star at her disposal, but neither some odd stabs at humor nor Huppert's versatility do much to enliven what's essentially a superficially sexed-up soufflé.
  10. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Bennett
    Aug 23, 2011
    40
    With neither great insight nor any sign of wit, the film is not likely to capture interest outside France.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    Aug 26, 2011
    20
    As clichés trot through their sessions - it's like "In Treatment" as bedroom farce - we check out. Huppert, though, is as fearless as ever.

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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. MarcDoyle
    4
    The movie introduces some interesting characters and possible plot directions, but it just feels extremely incomplete. It's in no way "erotic" as the product description states. It could have been so much fun - a prostitute seeing a psychotherapist seeing a prostitute, etc. But it's just neutered. The outline should have been fleshed out by a much better writer.… Full Review »