Mandibles
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: July 23, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeSep 18, 2021
As a portrait of friendship, viewed through the compound eye of a mutant insect, it is multidimensional and rather moving. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 18, 2021
Dupieux is clearly aware there’s no real dramatic mileage in Mandibles’ absurd premise, but it’s the opposite of a problem: Mandibles becomes funnier the longer it wanders around aimlessly, kicking at rocks. Read full review
85
Vanity FairCassie da CostaJul 27, 2021
It’s all incredibly silly, yet undeniably honest. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayJul 23, 2021
Maybe this picture is just a string of wacky ideas, with no deeper meaning. But for those who take the ride, it’s an hour and 17 minutes they’re unlikely to forget. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJul 23, 2021
What works so well in Mandibles is how it's set up as a basic heist movie, using very familiar elements, so familiar they're almost tired cliches, before going completely off the rails into random demented territory. Read full review
80
TheWrapDave WhiteJul 23, 2021
For Dupieux, there seems to be no moral here at all, other than perhaps that life is a trajectory of mishaps and easiest for people who don’t linger over the fallout of their actions. This isn’t necessarily surprising for a filmmaker who once wrote and directed a movie about a sentient tire that commits serial murder. Read full review
84
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganJul 22, 2021
Though Dupieux’s films have never shied away from violence and destruction, Mandibles preserves the filmmaker’s penchant for perplexity while asserting that life is a glorious thing—even in its distasteful weirdness. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaJul 22, 2021
Mandibles is sweet, simple, and oh-so-very stupid — a stupidity that’s oddly liberating, like making up ridiculous scenarios with a pal over bong hits. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJul 20, 2021
Like his other films, this one takes an admittedly slender thread of an idea — one that would make a perfectly good premise for a four-minute comic sketch — and stretches it to almost the breaking point, and sometimes beyond, twisting and intertwining it with other nonsense along the way, just for the heck of it. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 20, 2021
If you seek something that coalesces in a satisfying way, this ain’t the auteur for you. If you long to be caught off guard, take a seat. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJul 19, 2021
The idle one-thing-after-another-ness of Mandibles is evocative, disturbing, and moving. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 13, 2021
Mandibles is a shambolic, sometimes funny and always-silly amble through the South of France. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 15, 2020
Mandibles is as brazenly and riotously stupid as it sounds, but with a chill, dopey sweetness that makes it stick. Read full review
83
The Film StageDavid KatzSep 15, 2020
Perhaps we’re comedy-starved in today’s cinematic landscape, but Dupieux’s rollicking adventure generates rare laugh-out-loud moments and even a few applause-worthy bits. Read full review
60
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 15, 2020
Mandibules is a rollicking, rambunctious tequila-dream of a movie. Read full review
75
IndieWireNicholas BarberSep 15, 2020
What makes Mandibules so refreshing is that, just as its anti-heroes don’t care about how they are supposed to behave, Dupieux has an airy disregard for how a chase thriller or a horror movie is supposed to proceed. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangSep 15, 2020
The really new news of Mandibles however, is, where in the past Dupieux’s surrealism always had a cynical, sinister, even murderous undercurrent, here, he lets himself be cheerful, as though infected by the sweet-natured bromance between his appealing, appalling idiot leads. Read full review
80
Screen DailyLee MarshallSep 15, 2020
Mandibles is far from derivative, and Dupieux goes beyond the usual “Love you bro!” buddy-film clichés to draw something genuine, even heartwarming, out of the friendship between these two idiots. Read full review
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