A midmovie plot twist hands the narrative over to Mia Wasikowska as the sweetheart, and her committed performance seems out of place in this extended goof.

| Mar 4, 2020

Throughout the film, Pattinson's control of his accent, his ability to add complexity to an imbecilic character, and his comedic timing are new signs that he is more than that Twilight dream boy.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 27, 2018

Damsel spends its second half literally wandering in the woods, with no clear destination or objective in mind.

| Aug 7, 2018

As an indie film with a clever gimmick, it's worth seeing, though it never quite sustains the sweeping feel of its first two scenes.

| Jul 8, 2018

The Zellner Brothers, Mia Wasikowska, and Robert Pattinson team up for the delightfully weird, beautifully shot, and feminist as hell Damsel.

| Jul 6, 2018

"Damsel" takes most of the elements you've ever seen in a Western and tweaks some, twists others and comes up with something unusual and mostly satisfying.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 5, 2018

"Damsel" owes just as much to the absurdist tone of the Coen brothers, possessing the same visual and verbal japery and, occasionally, absurdism for its own wearyingly ridiculous sake.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 28, 2018

Damsel is designed to be a deliberately out-of-joint comedy about a woman forced to endure an exasperating ordeal. After two hours, I could relate.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 28, 2018

Like everything else attractive to the eye in "Damsel," this image of happiness is a cruel illusion. It's also an unilluminating one.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 28, 2018

The frontier as a symbol not of manifest destiny but of man's idiocy? There's an interesting movie in that. "Damsel" gets about halfway there.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 28, 2018

The filmmakers are poking fun at the male ego without portraying its more sinister aspects. It's a new spin on an old narrative - a fresh start if you will.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 28, 2018

Damsel is set some 150 years ago, but it's a timely social commentary about certain gender-based stereotypes that still exist in the movies. Mia Wasikowska kills it as Penelope.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 27, 2018

Damsel is a sly feminist manifesto disguised as a shaggy, amiable hangout movie.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 24, 2018

This warped, WTF western from the Zellner brothers gives Rob Pattinson a chance to shine. In a Hollywood of formulaic hack jobs, the Zellners know how to keep you guessing. Don't knock it. It's a gift.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 24, 2018

Damsel is neither a rollicking adventure nor a rapturous love story, but a dark comedy that revels in character, confusion, and discomfort.

| Jun 24, 2018

Damsel goes for rueful smiles, not uproarious laughs.

| Jun 22, 2018

When the film segues into a literal song and dance, it feels like we really are watching a new sort of vision, even though Damsel takes a while to reveal its true angle.

| Jun 21, 2018

"Damsel" is a deadpan art-western prank, a sly fusion of classical technique and postmodern sensibility.

| Jun 21, 2018

A film that's intellectually stimulating and beautiful to look at, but a bit too arch to truly fall in love with.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 21, 2018

A movie that turns the classic western into something wackily eccentric and entertainingly original.

| Jun 21, 2018