Kristen Stewart is note-perfect as the androgynous, uncomfortable Knoop - alluring in spite of her awkwardness, intelligent and well-spoken when she decides to speak, constantly on the brink of fleeing any room she's in.

| Mar 12, 2021

Dern brings a hungry, manic energy to Albert... while Stewart's performance is typically interiorised and exacting.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 18, 2019

[Y]ou simply can't look away.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 16, 2019

The lifeless narrative rhythm, which quickly succumbs to a deadly causal trap (and then, and then, and then), doesn't help either.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 16, 2019

On paper, the role couldn't feel better suited to Stewart: alas, the film isn't sturdy enough to support it.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 15, 2019

JT LeRoy is a decent telling of a fascinating, resonant true story. If it never really fulfils its promise, it's worth it to see two major talents - Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern - in full flow.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 15, 2019

Yet despite the presence of two of our very best female actors, the story has lost much of its power and intrigue.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 14, 2019

K-Stew [Kristen Stewart] rocks in a gender-fluid literary-hoax drama that's strange and fascinating.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 14, 2019

It's a very forthright performance from Dern, but Stewart is simply too opaque and subdued in the role of Knoop.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 14, 2019

A modern-day 'Cyrano de Bergerac' with a hefty dose of bonkers.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 9, 2019

A lukewarm examination of what might have been a hot topic - and that means it risks being overshadowed by the real-life soap opera playing out around it.

| May 23, 2019

Dern and Stewart do the heavy lifting. Their performances parse through the layers in Albert and Knoop's everyday showmanship, adding shades that suggest a truth that will always remain out of reach.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 2, 2019

Yet despite the efforts of its stars and the inherent juiciness of its source material, the film falls flat when it should bounce with surreal glee.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 2, 2019

JT LeRoy isn't a bad movie, and with these actresses it's certainly worth seeing.

| Apr 27, 2019

Believe it or not, J.T. LeRoy is a story too far out to be so boring.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 26, 2019

Though Feuerzeig's picture remains the definitive chronicle of Albert's creative process and the personal demons that informed it, Kelly's film brings us at least a half-step closer to understanding Knoop's motivation for keeping the ruse alive.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 26, 2019

The new film smartly illuminates what's been missing from other accounts: Why someone like Knoop would agree to, and even enjoy, taking part in someone else's hoax.

| Apr 26, 2019

But where Dern and Stewart kick-start something worth exploring, the movie around them is pleased spectator instead of engaged participant.

| Apr 25, 2019

Anchored by its two excellent leads, the movie is sympathetic and, for the most part, unsentimental.

| Apr 25, 2019

Who doesn't love a good imposter story?

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 25, 2019