The Woman
Metascore
58 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
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  1. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Andy Webster
    Oct 16, 2011
    80
    The Woman is not, obviously, a family movie, but it is, like much of the best drama, about a family - here, how an outsider upends its unhinged equilibrium. True to its genre, there is gore and sudden shrieks.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    Oct 14, 2011
    75
    The Woman is disturbing, lurid and perverse, but that isn't necessarily bad: Horror buffs, especially fans of Ketchum, will be overcome with joy and excitement.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    Oct 12, 2011
    75
    The mix of blunt sexual politics and dime-store-paperback luridness has the bracing quality of tub-brewed rotgut. It eats away at the stomach lining - that is, if it can be stomached at all.
  4. indieWIRE
    Reviewed by: Eric Kohn
    Oct 10, 2011
    67
    There are plenty of guts, but The Woman doesn't have enough to make its feminist rhetoric stick.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Oct 26, 2011
    63
    The movie - which caused walkouts and an uproar at Sundance - rewards your endurance with an utterly insane 30-minute climax of violence, audacious gore and all-around bad behavior (how this picture got an R rating is baffling).
  6. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    Oct 20, 2011
    60
    The Woman isn't simply a gore-fest. It's just mostly a gore-fest, with a little more going on, as well.
  7. Empire
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    Oct 10, 2011
    60
    So horrifying it caused a number of hardcore journos to storm out of its Sundance screening, btu if you've got thick, thick skin, you might find something here.
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    Oct 11, 2011
    40
    Even with a nauseous climax, The Woman never gets under the skin, and its artsy-languid pacing and incessant lite-metal commentary tunes finally seem like part of an effort to disguise what it really is: torture porn for people who'd never admit to liking torture porn.
  9. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    Oct 11, 2011
    20
    Dropping on top of the heap is Lucky McKee's barely competent domestic thriller, bound to make you groan more than think.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 14 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. dacritique
    0
    This is the biggest pile of garbage i have ever seen. Its easy to see that the online critics are getting merchandise and free viewings of this film because if they had to pay for it, it would get nothing but bad reviews. just like how the reviewers at ign reviewing a game and saying its stellar when its nothing more than a turn in a **** bucket. I knew what i was in for as soon as it started, here's this woman who's a savage cant speak English probably raised by wolves so to say but yet she is armed with a **** bowie knife. nuff said. Unless this **** learned how to smelt iron out of the dirt and learned to forge the **** thing, where the **** did she get it? It doesn't add up probably she bought it at walmart....oh yeah that's right she a **** savage. What a load of bull**** I am glad I never paid money to see this boring piece of **** Thank god for piracy. that is all.… Full Review »
  2. slippery
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. First of all, I'm a huge fan of horror films. I've seen a very wide spectrum of films. I'm not a fan of splatter flicks. I'm not a fan of films that only manage to shock, disgust and repulse. A five year old can manage the same thing with a handful of excrement. I'm not a fan of jump-out-and-BOO films that merely surprise.
    ****
    I like films that surprise me in a different way. This film surprised me.
    ****
    First, this film has the best soundtrack of any horror film. The music was fresh and stylish. That may seem cheap, but atmosphere is really important, and the music created a very different atmosphere than most horror films achieve. And music was only one aspect of the great timing and direction of the film.
    *****
    But MOST of all: this is a surprisingly intelligent film. The characters are disturbing and twisted, but freshly so. These aren't the usual cookie-cutter bad-guys and crazies of most films. They're monsters masquerading as normal people. As the film progresses, the director slowly pulls back the curtain on horror upon horror: but not merely shock and disgust. There were several surprises that left my jaw hanging open in a very genuine "WTF!" moment. The thing is, I normally do NOT like movies about torture or humiliation. I find it grotesque, misanthropic, and particularly against women I find it misogynistic ... I can't watch the TV show Criminal Minds because I find it sick and misogynistic (at least after season one). Though people have leveled that criticism against this movie, I disagree. The director didn't show a lot of things he could have. I felt he was very sensitive the actors. Likewise, this isn't a movie that treats its mistreatment as something titillating. It doesn't merely revel in the empowerment of evil or the hopeless helplessness of the weak. It's well-done horror. Amazingly, it's not the savage cannibal woman who's the biggest horror but the seemingly good neighborly family that "takes her in" to "civilize her" that provides the real horror. The characters: the wife, the daughter, "the woman" and even "the son" all, to me, represent different aspects of abused women and their reactions to abuse. There's a psychology to the film that works: whether it's "the woman's" incessant resistance, the daughter's rabbit-like self-protective hiding and withdrawal, the wife's appeasement and complicity, or the son's Stockholm-Syndrome-like emulation and very realistically portrayed and understood sadism. And finally, the director shows it's "the woman" who becomes the hero, breaking the passivity of the others.

    *****
    On the actors and casting: well done. Lauren Ashley Carter as daughter Peggy: casting directors, PLEASE hire this woman. Her performance was more than just artful makeup. Her portrayal of a young woman who like an old rag has been brutally twisted completely dry of its last drop of humanity and hope ... it was like fingernails dragging across my heart. She genuinely made me FEEL for her character without beating me over the head with pleas for sympathy.
    *****
    This is not an art film. It's a horror film. But it's not an average horror film. This film is not for everybody. It's certainly not for the mild tea-cup suspense crowd. It's filled to the brim with monsters that terrify and disgust. But for hard-horror fans tired of the same old plot and the same old characters: this film is refreshing.    … Full Review »
  3. LordPigNugget
    8
    The Woman is not a perfect movie. Certain camera angles are jarring and infective, and the third act, while impressive in its ambitions, nevertheless feels a tad rushed. However, this film (which is more a drama and deconstruction of the nuclear family unit than a horror movie), is outstanding in its portrayal of the life of its central family, the Cleeks. The titular woman is both simultaneously nothing and everything. She is merely the stage upon which the family slowly reveals their own natures upon. This method of story telling is far more effective than the oft used simple back story reveal. A viewer knows almost nothing of these characters outside of what is specifically seen on camera, and yet, by the time the credits roll, every person involved has their own unique traits and relationship. This is further achieved by the strong acting performances turned in by all cast members, who portray these characters as living and breathing. This film is a landmark in "horror" cinema. Just don't expect too many scares.… Full Review »
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