The Whistlers
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: February 28, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
CineVueChristopher MachellMay 7, 2020
A stylish and fitfully engaging crime thriller with a great concept, let down by incoherent plotting and impenetrable characterisation. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 9, 2020
Much about the new film feels simultaneously playful and dangerous, with fanciful inventions like the whistling language taught to the hero by the gangsters so they can communicate out loud in secret. Read full review
100
Washington PostPat PaduaMar 26, 2020
Fans of the director may be a little mystified by what at first seems like something of a commercial sellout, by a director known for more challenging material. And indeed, The Whistlers has more than enough sex and violence to satisfy the average action movie fan. But dig a bit deeper, and you’ll find a mother lode of meaning just below the surface. Read full review
75
Original-CinLiam LaceyMar 12, 2020
While you can admire the “House of Mirrors” structure of The Whistlers and its ironic mix of glum and glamorous, there is little emotional purchase here. This is a flatter, more arch experience than Porumboiu’s devastatingly absurd earlier films, and the entire exercise feels more about ingenuity than art. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneMar 2, 2020
The new film is definitely suaver and busier, glinting with wit and concluding in, of all cities, Singapore. Read full review
91
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 28, 2020
The characters in The Whistlers turn language into music; Porumboiu does something very similar with criminality and corruption. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearFeb 28, 2020
What The Whistlers lacks in terms of the rigor associated with its creator’s back catalog, it makes up for as a deadpan genre piece with a sly jab. It’s a serious work of pulp friction. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsFeb 28, 2020
There’s not much to Porumboiu’s latest beyond a surplus of plot twists and double crosses. Read full review
80
SlashfilmJason GorberFeb 27, 2020
This is as close to a multiplex contender as Porumboiu is likely to get, which may of course aggravate those that like their drinks sour, their bread hard and crusty, and their films to be as esoteric as possible. For those that don’t mind a bit of fun along the way this quirky, surreal crime thriller just might work its way into your heart. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 27, 2020
The many characters’ distinct perspectives on the action are multiplied by chilling views from surveillance cameras, prompting deceptive displays—including romantic ones—in which tipped-off targets fool those who are watching. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 27, 2020
The tutoring sessions progress from whimsical to intriguing to captivating, even though Cristi and his confederates don’t really do very much with their secret code. Good stories thrive on details. The specifics here are abundant, and so charmingly preposterous — or maybe not, who knows? — that they command your rapt attention. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 26, 2020
It is Porumboiu’s most elaborate feature and in some ways his least ambitious. Like a meringue or like a whistle, its substance is mostly air. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyFeb 25, 2020
Playing with genre cryptograms of gangster villas, opera-loving killers, and glamorously lit cigarette smoke, the film never takes itself too seriously, even if its characters never seem to smile. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 4, 2020
The Whistlers is that rare cops-and-criminals picture that gives us a little to chew on and a new skill to practice — whistling. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie AtkinsonSep 10, 2019
The whistling was originally developed to more conveniently communicate across great distances and that gives Porumboiu the perfect excuse to repeatedly frame the assorted players dwarfed by vast cityscapes and spectacular nature vistas. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GraySep 6, 2019
Corneliu Porumboiu’s film is very much a genre exercise, and a particularly Soderberghian one at that. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 28, 2019
The Whistlers has a tonne of pulpy circuit-breakers – look out for a hilarious ‘Psycho’ tribute – to remind you not to take it all too seriously. Hitchcock would have approved. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 23, 2019
It’s a lot of fun — and often quite funny — while it lasts, though I could have used less gunplay and more whistling, an element that, more than anything else here, speaks to Porumboiu’s gift for deadpan absurdity. Read full review
90
TheWrapSteve PondMay 22, 2019
The Whistlers is no minimalist slice of realism, but an oversized, deliciously twisted ride that runs on an endless supply of black humor and a sizeable body count. You won’t laugh much while you’re watching it, but it’s a hoot nonetheless. Read full review
70
VarietyJessica KiangMay 21, 2019
As a low-key romp with a twisty, globetrotting plot The Whistlers is an enjoyable affair with just enough of a slant to feel a little offbeat. But Porumboiu aficionados chasing the same weird high he has delivered time and again before — wherein a single moment can transform a ridiculous scheme into a fairy tale, or a silly notion into a grand philosophical quest — are just going to have to whistle for it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMay 21, 2019
The script may hum and buzz with twists and require concentration, but that's not exactly the same as being intellectually satisfying and rich the way Porumboiu's earlier work was. They were closer to profound; this is just clever. Read full review
60
Screen DailyLee MarshallMay 21, 2019
Only in certain scenes do story and ideas really mesh Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnMay 21, 2019
The Whistlers goes down easy and dissipates soon after the credits roll, but with a murky plot in which the heist in question is often beside the point, the accomplishment of the movie lies within what it says about that agreeable flow. Read full review
91
The PlaylistBradley WarrenMay 21, 2019
This comedic thriller is witty and diverting without selling out on the Romanian reputation of thoughtful, challenging work. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 21, 2019
It’s the kind of filmmaking with rich confidence in its own professionalism, like a hired assassin purring with his own satisfaction after a devious, trace-free job. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 21, 2019
Though it’s full of twists and turns, the most shocking thing about the film is that it’s been written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, the Romanian deconstructionist behind such exercises in intentional tedium as 12:08: East Of Bucharist and The Treasure. Read full review
58
The Film StageRory O'ConnorMay 21, 2019
To its detriment, this has the feel of a film that has been constructed in service of one absurd idea. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 21, 2019
Porumboiu gives us a knotty, twisty, nifty plot that’s quite involved but hangs together well, and there’s an amusing juxtaposition of gloomy, rainy Bucharest and the sunny terrain of La Gomera. We also get a neat and unexpected coda. Read full review
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