Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
Annapurna Pictures | Release Date: October 13, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 12, 2017
A sly and thoroughly charming Trojan horse of a movie. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 12, 2017
Angela Robinson’s fascinating and surprisingly sweet-natured film is a different sort of superhero origin story, and an appropriate bookend to this summer’s “Wonder Woman.” Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 12, 2017
Thanks to Professor Marston and his real-life Wonder Women, something close to a death blow was dealt to the demeaning, centuries-old image of the damsel in distress. It's a hell of an origin story. Read full review
86
Paste MagazineWill LeitchOct 19, 2017
Robinson is so eager to please that she’s a little too on-the-nose sometimes; she’s definitely not subtle. But that’s okay, too, because she allows us to spend time with these people, and smart, flawed, lovable people, as they try to peel apart the layers of their lives and then reconstruct themselves. Read full review
83
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 16, 2017
While Robinson’s film does fall into the usual trappings of biopic beats, its subject can’t help but transcend them. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramDec 7, 2017
Whether or not you’re a fan of Wonder Woman, this tale of her creation is rich, evocative and enlightening. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangOct 12, 2017
You may long for a more disreputable, less buttoned-up telling, but there is something about this one’s sleek, streamlined conventionality that feels both appropriate and pleasing. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternOct 12, 2017
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women stands head, shoulders, boots, tiara and lasso above many independent films of the moment. See it and you’ll come away with a new appreciation for the polywonder of creativity. Read full review
80
Village VoiceApril WolfeOct 12, 2017
The most exceptional element of Professor Marston and the Wonder Women might actually be its comforting, radical normalcy. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 11, 2017
What Professor Marston and the Wonder Women does, with a wink but refreshingly few snickers, is color in the life-giving fantasy that fueled the creation of the perennially embattled American icon. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoOct 11, 2017
Professor Marston is a sweet, saucy biopic about unconventional love and iconic origins (plus bondage!). Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 11, 2017
As Marston once put it, “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.” This reviewer concurs. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedOct 24, 2017
It’s quite a story and a cinematic task writer-director Angela Robinson is not always up to. But I wasn’t bored, and in this anemic year that’s saying a mouthful. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireOct 13, 2017
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women aims to shake you up, make you think and maybe even squirm a little. Make that a lot. This movie is sexy as hell, featuring several scenes of steamy three-ways and kinky S&M games. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 12, 2017
It’s a fun film that breezes by and, despite any liberties it takes with history, offers a valuable look at Wonder Woman’s real origin story. For adults with curiosity, this makes for an offbeat companion piece to the big-budget blockbuster. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsOct 12, 2017
It’s a lively and absorbing picture — intelligently sexy, tastefully salacious but serious enough to stick. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattOct 12, 2017
A tasteful, surprisingly sedate biopic slathered in the traditional signposts of heavy exposition, gold-toned cinematography, and note-perfect period detail. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 12, 2017
If you don’t know this history, and neither I nor James Cameron (apparently) did, the “wonder women” behind “Wonder Woman” will make your draw drop. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 11, 2017
A story of courage and sacrifice, as well as a moving love story that’s really three love stories in one. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandSep 16, 2017
Evans, Hall, and Heathcote exhibit major chemistry (in every permutation) possible, but they also don’t wink at the storyline, playing a provocative story totally straight. Read full review
70
The AtlanticDavid SimsNov 20, 2017
The real star of Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is Rebecca Hall, who’s an absolute dynamo as Elizabeth Holloway Marston. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 12, 2017
Robinson tells the story in a straightforward way, not quite breezy but definitely in mainstream fashion. You long for a little more grit; even the rough edges seem a little smooth. Read full review
70
ScreenCrushMatt SingerSep 16, 2017
In a way, though, Robinson’s less-edgy aesthetic is even more subversive than graphic sexuality. By treating the Marstons’ lovemaking the same way arthouse movies have treated heterosexual couples for decades, she refuses to portray them as aberrant or abnormal. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungSep 16, 2017
Many rough edges are smoothed by the strong acting and well-done tech work. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallOct 12, 2017
Robinson's screenplay covers all of its bases by the midway point, and then a framing device of Marston being interrogated by a cultural watchdog (Connie Britton) hammers his theories flat. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeOct 11, 2017
The story is absolutely fascinating, even if the filmmaking isn’t. Read full review
67
ConsequenceSarah KurchakSep 16, 2017
Angela Robinson, who wrote and directed the film, has managed to take what could have been a tawdry or salacious look into Wonder Woman’s naughty roots and give her real-life characters – and their genuine love for each other – the same amount of respect that any vanilla, monogamous heterosexual historical figure would receive. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonOct 12, 2017
As usual, Hall is awesome. She has an effortless way of projecting ferocious female intellect, and we see why her character captivates Byrne. When Hall is on screen, the movie works. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Anne T. DonahurOct 12, 2017
Because like the Wonder Woman mythos itself, there's almost too much ground to cover in just a single installment. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 11, 2017
About the only thing the title doesn’t tell you is that the movie’s a loving, sensitive exploration of S&M bondage techniques and polyamorous relationships. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfOct 13, 2017
It all really happened but surely with a lot more passion than writer-director Angela Robinson’s script would have it. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 16, 2017
Writer-director Angela Robinson chronicles a complex love story that investigates kinkiness, social mores and the impetus for art, resulting in a drama that’s far more intellectually intriguing than emotionally engaging. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineMark MatousekOct 11, 2017
Throughout, internal conflict becomes external, and the passions and irrationalities of human emotion are condensed into explanatory dialogue. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 18, 2017
Professor Marston And The Wonder Women tackles one of the most curious chapters of comic book history with an overly classy sheen. Read full review
40
EmpireNick de SemlyenNov 6, 2017
The lesser of 2017’s two Wonder Woman movies, this attempt to explore a complex three-sided relationship is let down by bland storytelling. Read full review
40
TheWrapInkoo KangOct 12, 2017
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women celebrates the bravery and creativity of Diana Prince’s mastermind and his muses, but with a tepidness toward the complications of their lives. The result is a gauzy, sexy ode to unconventionality that feels distinctly and disappointingly conventional. Read full review
40
The New YorkerRichard BrodyOct 11, 2017
The movie is sympathetic but simplistic, depicting an exceptional story with little energy or sense of physical presence. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 16, 2017
As well as showcasing the blandest and most tasteful three-way sex scene in history, this movie spreads an odd pall of sentimentality and period-glow nostalgia over a fascinating real-life story. Read full review
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