Stay
Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 29
  3. Negative: 8 out of 29
view
per page
  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    If "The Sixth Sense" was a bad movie redeemed by its surprise ending, Marc Forster's Stay is a seemingly good movie leading to a devastating letdown.
  2. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    38
    Gosling's been better elsewhere but delivers an adequate performance. McGregor and Watts seem baffled most of the time, as well they might be. Forster keeps us from drifting off with inventive camerawork; in this case, that's like saying a hideous suit has well-stitched lapels.
  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    30
    A steaming compost heap of high-art pretense and half-cocked psychoanalysis that almost makes you sorry Nicolas Roeg isn't making pictures anymore.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    30
    Marc Forster takes a maximalist approach to this mumbo jumbo, which means that in addition to lots of wacky angles, shiny surfaces, seemingly endless stairs, and sets of twins, triplets and quadruplets, he deploys the unsettling vision of three talented actors - Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gosling - straining credulity and neck tendons in the service of serious claptrap.
  5. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    That mind-bending, mystical business was better handled in such films as 1990's "Jacob's Ladder."
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    A trite, incoherent and pretentious bomb.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Neva Chonin
    25
    Visuals can't fill a spiritual vacuum, and Stay remains a pretty package that's empty on the inside.
  8. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    25
    Neither thrilling nor psychological, but it's chicly shot and edited and is pretty much art-directed to death.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 36
  3. Negative: 12 out of 36
  1. geofd.
    10
    If you understand what you see. You will love this film. Well Done.
  2. jzme
    10
    Superb, non-typical and breathtakingly beautiful dream-like movie. One of a kind movie and movies like this is hard to find. The story line did not make any sense, only because everything was imagined in Henry's head when he was about to die. It didn't need to, and that makes this movie so special. It really felt like it was in a dream. I thought the casts, script, effects and story line was brilliant. Kudos to director Marc Forster for thinking outside the box.… Full Review »
  3. AndréF.
    10
    It can be quite confusing but don't wait the end to reveal it all.
See all user reviews »