Escape Room
Columbia Pictures Corporation | Release Date: January 4, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
17
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 31, 2019
A very cinematic spatial impossibility is conjured up by Robitel as he allows the audience to ponder how exactly these rooms are supposed to fit together. The film has a vicious streak of throwaway black comedy. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJan 3, 2019
It’s a mostly fun, logic-be-damned ride if you just stay in the moment and don’t think too deeply as the going gets tough — which is soon enough. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJan 4, 2019
The escape-room scenes themselves (a.k.a. the good stuff) are imaginatively conceived and deftly executed enough to justify a late-night cable viewing. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandJan 3, 2019
For all its of-the-moment charms, Escape Room can’t shake its more basic genre trappings, eventually giving itself over to tired and predictable revelations and flimsy twists. Read full review
50
The PlaylistCharles BarfieldJan 26, 2019
Great cast, fun mysteries, well-crafted set pieces, and suspense for days isn’t enough to outweigh the crushing defeat felt at the end of Escape Room by the ludicrous ending that overshadows the proceedings. Read full review
50
The Film StageJohn FinkJan 26, 2019
Students of the genre will know what’s coming and if you’re craving a few thrills, you can do far worse. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 7, 2019
The movie may attract some attention from horror/thriller fans eager for a post-Halloween fix but this is no better than a direct-to-video production masquerading as a theatrical release. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJan 4, 2019
A sometimes diverting, but overly familiar series of set pieces in search of a good melodrama. Read full review
50
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJan 3, 2019
The filmmakers haven’t gone so far as to put you in the game, too. A lot of it is watching all the characters find keys and have their own revelations, so by the time you get to the fifth room, it’s understandable if interest is starting to wane a bit even with the addition of a link between the six people. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJan 3, 2019
There are intimations of “Tales From the Crypt,” “Final Destination,” “The Game,” and other older, better films here; this movie never catches a fire like any of those did, and even its twist coda feels dreary and pro forma. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 3, 2019
Escape Room is an amusement park ride. It has no reason for being beyond that base-level kick, and it doesn’t, as they say, transcend the genre. But there’s something to be said for amusement park rides. People like them for good reason. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsDrew LazorJan 3, 2019
The setup may seem recyclable, but really it’s disposable. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeFeb 4, 2019
This picture is impressively designed but low on scares. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerJan 29, 2019
Escape Room is like The Crystal Maze with more death. It’s fun at the start then loses its way, but it’ll do until ‘Flossing: The Movie’ comes along. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJan 4, 2019
At least it could have been fun-bad, not just boring-bad. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearJan 3, 2019
The best thing you can say about Escape Room is that for most of it, you’re not desperately searching for the exit sign. Read full review
40
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 3, 2019
The first part of the film gets some airy momentum going. Then, however, we learn the secret of what the characters have in common, and it gives you that slightly sinking feeling of one contrivance too many. Read full review
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