Metacritic Film

Psychopathia Sexualis

Starring Jane Bass, Bryan Davis, Veronika Duerr, Sandra L. Hughes, Ted Manson, Daniel May, Rob Nixon, Lisa Paulsen, Daniel Pettrow, and Rachel Sorsa

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Kino International
Drama
102 minutes | Color
USA
Released In Theaters June 8, 2006

Employing a complex multi-narrative structure, Psychopathia Sexualis dramatizes case histories of turn-of-the-century sexual deviance, drawn from the pages of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's notorious medical text. (Kino International)

WRITTEN BY
Bret Wood

DIRECTED BY
Bret Wood

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

40 / 100

Critic Reviews

63	TV Guide A window into bygone morals and mores.
63	Chicago Tribune An independent American art film that seems to be masquerading as Victorian-era pornography--and it's not quite as interesting or provocative as that description might make it sound.
58	Seattle Post-Intelligencer The curiously stylized piece, shot in a muted palette with performances to match (the cast is perhaps too restrained given the theatrical framework), is dramatically colorless, but the moods and moments are crafted with kinky grace.
50	Variety Psychopathia Sexualis exists in the gray area between ponderous stylization and campy affectation.
50	Chicago Reader The director's familiarity with silent cinema enhances the prudish pornographic footage, but when he starts cutting between separate perversions, I began to wonder if he was getting as bored with the material as I was.
50	LA Weekly It's a mildly enjoyable romp.
42	Portland Oregonian The result is a sepia-toned muddle.
25	New York Post Sex can be fun and exciting and wonderful. It also can be deadly boring, as in Psychopathia Sexu alis.
20	Village Voice Drearily pretentious, Sexualis has even less softcore appeal than an American Apparel ad.
20	The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis Whether in the whorehouse or the sanitarium, Psychopathia Sexualis is an exercise in unrelenting dullness.

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