The Reaping
Metascore
36 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 23
  3. Negative: 12 out of 23
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    38
    Ludicrous and overstuffed, it plows through the Big 10 of Biblical plagues.
  2. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    38
    It's hard to say what is more responsible for the film's utter failure: Hopkins direction, the editing, or the screenplay. The result is such a muddle that one assumes each aspect deserves part of the blame.
  3. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Laine Ewen
    38
    Some of the effects are squirm-worthy, if not actually frightening. Amid all the fake profundity, those moments -- you know, when the film is actually entertaining -- are rare.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    33
    No belief on earth can rescue Swank from a film that's a chain of disaster chintz masquerading as a sermon.
  5. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Pete Vonder Haar
    30
    The Reaping isn't a total failure. Swank is never less than competent.
  6. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    30
    Pardon the pun, but audiences will reap little from this satanic backwoods juju thriller.
  7. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    30
    Those two age-old foes--science and blind faith--tango yet again in this noxious slice of Biblical horror about a series of Old Testament plagues being visited upon a Louisiana bayou backwater.
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    If only The Reaping had the decency to be coherent.
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    25
    Although The Reaping' borrows elements from classics of the genre -- rips them off might be more accurate -- it fails to build the psychological tension that made them so creepily good.
  10. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    25
    As if this drivel weren't bad enough, the ending blatantly threatens a sequel
  11. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    12
    Long-delayed, pitiful excuse for a horror film.
  12. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    10
    This high-decibel shocker is an insult to intelligence and faith alike.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. Rikiege
    6
    There are times when the movie is boring but other times very surprising.
  2. moviegrabbag
    3
    I'm not really sure why I didn't like this movie. The acting was solid and the story flowed very well. There was just something about this movie that rubbed me the wrong way. I think that was the fact I figured out the twist ending very early in the movie. Overall this movie is probably worth a watch if nothing else then just to say you watched it, but I don't think it's going to stick with you very long after that.… Full Review »
  3. JohnF.
    9
    Very good movie and the ending was very good and not what I expected.
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