Slingshot: reviews

What the critics say average 5.5 from 16 outlets

• 8.0 The GuardianPhil Hoad It labours for an hour to find its own thematic core, but as the psychological pieces accumulate, the film starts to exert an inexorable pull in its exploration of cognitive dissonance and mental illness. Read
• 7.5 Chicago Sun-TimesRichard Roeper Affleck and Beecham have a quiet and lovely chemistry together in the courtship scenes, which couldn’t be in starker contrast to the chaos aboard the ship, where it becomes increasingly difficult for John (and thus the viewer) to determine what’s real and what’s in John’s mind. Read
• 7.5 San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle It’s a somber, serious experience that won’t appeal to everybody, but it’s quite smart and will keep you guessing until its last seconds. Read
• 7.0 The Wall Street JournalKyle Smith Though on the surface Slingshot looks like a space-exploration thriller with many cinematic forebears, it makes elegant use of misdirection. Read
• 6.3 New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott In the context of COVID, Slingshot becomes something else, transforming from what would have been a decent but derivative sci-fi thinker into a stirring ode to the vital importance of others. Read
• 6.0 The Hollywood ReporterJordan Mintzer The result feels more like a B-grade thriller that’s been elevated by a good cast and a script with some clever moves. Read
• 6.0 Screen RantBen Gibbons It delivers a beautiful and promising dressing before unveiling a largely by-the-book story. It is not bad by any means, but it doesn't push the envelope or explore anything new, either. Slingshot is a pleasant watch, but it doesn't ever rise above that. Read
• 5.0 The Washington PostTy Burr The tension on the ship keeps accelerating in a straight and dramatically unsurprising line until the final scenes of “Slingshot,” at which point the twists come piling in, one after another, each shocker nullified by the next. Read
• 5.0 ColliderChase Hutchinson Slingshot is more of a murky mystery where the big revelations don't hold up under scrutiny. Read
• 5.0 Los Angeles TimesKatie Walsh There’s just simply nothing to hook into aside from Fishburne’s performance, which is the only captivating element of the film, and even that is derivative of his iconic Morpheus from “The Matrix.” Despite its many twists and turns, “Slingshot” shows no signs of life. Read
• 5.0 ReelViewsJames Berardinelli A problem with this movie, as is too-often the case with productions set within the confines of a space craft/capsule, is that the filmmakers don’t trust the inherent dangers and claustrophobia of the situation to be sufficiently suspenseful. Read
• 5.0 Slant MagazineRoss McIndoe Given that it’s largely a thriller about three guys trying not to go insane, Slingshot isn’t very well served by a story structure that has it continually cutting away from the main plot to provide flashbacks of John’s life back on Earth. Read
• 4.0 New York TimesBrandon Yu The paranoia sets in all too quickly in this awkwardly paced thriller, and it’s among a handful of defects in a film whose creative process seemed to begin and end with its final twist in mind, haphazardly and unconvincingly working backward to construct what’s necessary to build up to it. Read
• 4.0 The Austin ChronicleRichard Whittaker If Slingshot leaned into that character study, rather than roughly gaffer-taping it to a deep space thriller, maybe it wouldn’t stall out on the launch pad so badly. Read
• 3.5 The WrapElizabeth Weitzman Since Håfström and his crew stick their landing, those who particularly enjoy second-hand claustrophobia may find it worth the long journey. Everyone else, however, will be better served by more engaging enterprises here on Earth. Read
• 2.5 Roger EbertBrian Tallerico Consistently boring in a manner that almost feels defiant, “Slingshot” plays as a shallow COVID lockdown allegory for most of its runtime, before insultingly spiraling off the rails. It feels like a movie that hates its characters. And hates you too. Read