The Musical: reviews

What the critics say average 6.1 from 10 outlets

• 8.3 The PlaylistGregory Ellwood While the kids are pretty fantastic overall, it’s the collaboration between Brill and Bonilla that takes Heller’s screenplay to another level. Read
• 8.0 VultureBilge Ebiri It’ll probably drive some people crazy, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Read
• 7.0 The WrapChase Hutchinson That this is Bonilla’s feature directorial debut makes one only hope she keeps making comedies like this, as every escalation, cutaway, and lighting cue is perfectly executed. Doug may be a terrible director, but she proves to be a great one. Read
• 7.0 VarietyGuy Lodge Like its eminently problematic anti-hero, The Musical says its piece with conviction to spare, and a welcome streak of cat-among-the-pigeons danger rarely found in contemporary American comedy. Read
• 6.0 Film ThreatBradley Gibson Bonilla has directing chops, but she needs to refine them. She does show real potential and is a director to watch as her career proceeds. Read
• 6.0 ColliderRoss Bonaime Even if The Musical isn’t always a hit, it’s worth it when the film does find its high notes. Read
• 5.8 IndiewireDavid Ehrlich The result is a dated mishmash that makes a credible but halfhearted bid for relevance by triple-underlining the common theme of the much better movies that inspired it: White male bitterness is the most blithely destructive force on Earth. Read
• 5.0 The Hollywood ReporterRichard Lawson Though The Musical may lack a feeling of modernity, it could make up for that elsewhere: with tart humor, with unexpected plot developments, with compelling performances. But, alas, Bonilla and her actors can’t do much to leaven the leaden script they’ve been handed. Read
• 5.0 New York TimesNatalia Winkelman That Doug’s scheme will also hurt his students is beyond the scope of our sad protagonist’s solipsism, which envelops the movie like a thick fog. Read
• 2.5 Roger EbertJuan Barquin On its face, this sounds like a phenomenal concept for a comedy feature, with plenty of potential to dissect fragile men and the chaos they cause. But Giselle Bonilla’s feature debut simply doesn’t have anything worth saying. It is neither funny nor provocative, so what, if anything, is left? Read