66
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawMike Leigh brings an overwhelming simplicity and severity to this historical epic, which begins with rhetoric and ends in violence. There is force, grit and, above all, a sense of purpose; a sense that the story he has to tell is important and real, and that it needs to be heard right now.
- 80The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinThere is a danger of filing Peterloo away as an “important film” – but it is also a complex, rousing and rewarding one for anyone prepared to meet it on its own unapologetically ambitious terms.
- 80Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganScreen DailyFionnuala HalliganThis magnificently-realised film moves from feeling like a long, dry history lesson to becoming an angrily-direct and emotional tribute to the reformers of the past.
- 80CineVueChristopher MachellCineVueChristopher MachellAs a historical account it is unvarnished without feeling dry or academic, and as a coded satire of the contemporary British political climate it is urgent and deeply impassioned.
- 75The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorLeigh translates the defining moment–and those in the immediate lead-up–to the screen with tremendous weight and great clarity, making the sense of tragedy all the more potent.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe intent is noble and the attention to detail admirable, but the overall effect is obstinately unmoving.
- 60Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenThe authenticity is immersive, even if the historical exposition occasionally feels like prep for an exam no one’s warned you about.
- 58The PlaylistGregory EllwoodThe PlaylistGregory EllwoodWhile Leigh transports you back to 1819 through these rich characters, he simply tests the audience’s patience in getting to the heart of the story. There is an abundance of formal speeches and long monologues in the film, and they are often arduous and repetitive.
- 50IndieWireBen CrollIndieWireBen CrollMike Leigh’s expansive, exhaustive, and extraordinarily thorough portrait of early 19th-century political activism is, to put it one way, deliberate in pace and tone. To put it bluntly — and in an argot more readily familiar to its cast of working-class characters — the film is bloody well dull.