Predestination
Stage 6 Films | Release Date: January 9, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiJan 8, 2015
The Spierig brothers have deftly fashioned an unpredictable thrill ride, and the joy is to fit together all its puzzle pieces. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiJan 9, 2015
As the heart of the story, however, Sarah Snook delivers a knockout performance that calls on her to perform the kind of tricky scenes that could have resulted in bad laughs throughout if handled incorrectly. Not only does she pull off her performance brilliantly throughout—there is not one moment in which she is anything less that utterly convincing and believable. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 8, 2015
A meticulously crafted, sparse but beautifully photographed full-length feature film with strong work from a reliable veteran and a breakout performance from an actor you might not have heard of before. Read full review
80
The TelegraphMike McCahillFeb 19, 2015
Considering these characters are bounced round like pinballs, it’s amazing Hawke and the hitherto unknown Snook gain the emotional traction they do: even those struggling to keep up can’t fail to notice how these two are burnt, figuratively and literally, by their experiences. Read full review
80
CineVueAllie GemmillFeb 18, 2015
Predestination bends genre like it bends time. Simply put, it's a character study filtered through a science fiction lens. Read full review
80
EmpireKim NewmanFeb 17, 2015
A funny, affecting, twisted tale, which demands you pay close attention to every throwaway detail. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 12, 2015
If time-travel is your thing, you learn to shrug off inconsistencies. You debate chicken-egg questions over drinks or dope and mull over all the permutations. You graph it. You wish like hell you had a time machine. You savor every discombobulating, ludicrous, thrilling second of Predestination. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 9, 2015
To try and wrap your head around the plot of Predestination can only lead to madness. Don't get me wrong: The movie itself is a trip. Just jump off the cliff and go with the Spierig brothers, Peter and Michael, as they whoosh into the labyrinth of their own fervid imaginations. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJan 8, 2015
His (Hawke) subtle performance also draws attention away from the creaky plot machinery, as does the Spierig brothers’ eye for the seemingly throwaway but pregnant detail. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 8, 2015
Predestination is science fiction for a thoughtful crowd. This isn't an action oriented film nor should it be mistaken for a blockbuster. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartJan 7, 2015
Weirder and more contemplative than many of its time-traveling brethren, Predestination is a stylish head trip. It also marks Australian actor Snook as one to watch, as she demonstrates some serious gender-bending range. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jan 7, 2015
Predestination, a superficially cerebral new thriller, plays almost exclusively to the diagram-drawing crowd. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterElizabeth KerrJan 8, 2015
There’s something strange, wonderful, troublesome, brave, bonkers and completely watchable about Predestination that separates it from the scores of other time travel adventures that have come down the pipe in the past few years. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJan 8, 2015
Mr. Hawke serves as both the narrator and the story’s ballast amid all the woo-woo interludes and disruptions, the puzzle piece you hold and worry about even as the scenery changes and identities shift. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 8, 2015
Does it all add up? Maybe, if you follow the letter of narrative law. It's certainly imaginative, with high-minded ideas, but Hawke and Snook are what keep it grounded in truth. Read full review
70
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekJan 7, 2015
The Spierigs had the framework for something wonderful here, if only they’d trusted themselves to keep things simple. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 22, 2014
Predestination succeeds in teasing the brain and touching the heart even when its twists and turns keep multiplying well past the point of narrative sustainability. Read full review
63
USA TodayStaff [Not Credited]Jan 9, 2015
This intriguing and well-acted gender-bending story occasionally feels like "The Crying Game" meets "Looper." Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 8, 2015
The movie may not have quite the mind-bending wallop of “Inception,” but Predestination is about something deeper than fantasy. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 7, 2015
It takes talent, in front of and behind the camera, to create something engrossing and new in the timeworn time-travel odyssey. Whatever its shortcomings, Predestination is never at a loss for surprises. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJan 1, 2015
The film effectively underlines the one undertaking that time-travel fantasies can never truly allow: escape from ourselves. Read full review
60
Total FilmMatt GlasbyFeb 17, 2015
Slick but overstretched, Predestination deserves respect for what it tries to achieve rather than dismissal for not getting there. Either way, you will not be bored. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJan 8, 2015
Predestination may have the trippiest, weirdest take yet on the time-travel concept. Read full review
60
The DissolveScott TobiasJan 8, 2015
There’s a clarity to Snook’s emotional journey that’s absent from the rest of the film—a fact that’s partly deliberate, since Heinlein and the Spierigs mean to dive into the soup. But amid the murky genre experimentation, it’s a beacon of truth. Read full review
60
The GuardianHenry BarnesDec 22, 2014
Even if Predestination is distinctive chiefly for Snook’s excellent performance, it’s still a tricksy story well-handled by its directors. It doesn’t offer any new twists on the genre, but it is clever enough to leave you satisfied that you don’t want the time back. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyKyle AndersonJan 14, 2015
Predestination's pace is too slack, and the brothers are so painfully tentative as storytellers that the easily guessed big twist gets three separate reveals. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleThomas LeeJan 8, 2015
"Looper,” while confusing at times, never lets the act of time travel undermine the movie’s intelligence nor the integrity of the main protagonist. By contrast, Predestination is too clever for its own good, a film that relies on schtick and gimmicks rather than honest storytelling. Read full review
25
The PlaylistDrew TaylorJan 8, 2015
There are so many interesting ideas and concepts that could have been spun from this framework. Instead, it's the work of a bunch of filmmakers who seemingly wanted to offer up a WTF-worthy twist ending and tried to reverse engineer a movie from it. Read full review
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