The slapstick and Hollywood set found in the original are swapped out for a more authentic, uncomfortable, and claustrophobic interpretation.

| Original Score: 76/100 | Aug 19, 2021

It's an impressive sequence, but too little too late and shortly thereafter thoroughly undercut by an unearned saccharine conclusion and bad old age makeup. Papillon may have escaped but the viewer is still punished...

| Apr 14, 2021

Gets much right and features nice performances from the leads but feels like an unnecessary revamping of the story.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 4, 2021

Papillon doesn't have many new tricks up his sleeve when it comes to prison escape tales, but it does have above-average acting and a quiet soulfulness about it.

| Nov 10, 2020

The circuitousness of Guzikowski's script doesn't pay off like a series of obstacles, but instead like a list of chores.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2020

Even with the shortcomings of this version of the story, Papillon is just too engaging to get entirely wrong, especially with a team like this who clearly cares about capturing things both correctly and in a way that penetrates the soul.

| Jun 23, 2020

Not sure why it was necessary to remake this film. It's a fascinating story of survival, but you may be glad when it's over, rather than happy that you've seen it.

| Aug 16, 2019

Although Papillon drags in places, the intense action and gruesome violence provide enough oomph to jolt you back into the moment.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 25, 2019

straightforward, sturdy and handsomely designed

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 19, 2019

The focus is always on the heroic Hunnam character, reducing some scenes from dramatic to a shallow high school confrontation.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 23, 2019

A lazy and remarkably unremarkable cover version.

| Feb 21, 2019

If you're a free citizen, though, you have plenty of better films to choose from.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 28, 2018

[Papillon] really isn't bad, helped by a convincing sense of place, decent production values and a terrific supporting performance from Rami Malek.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 28, 2018

Papi's protracted, chaotically paced setbacks begin to feel less like a test of his resilience than the viewer's.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 23, 2018

Arguably an unnecessary remake of the 1973 film, but with a gritty, violent streak.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 22, 2018

But whether taken as a study in human resilience, as an oblique love story, or as an indictment of the French penal system, this drama is claustrophobic and oppressive.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2018

The deadening narrative structure (escape, capture, escape, capture etc) eventually overwhelms everything else on screen.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 21, 2018

Even without a visceral punch of present-day resonance, this is still a skilful depiction of a staggeringly cruel system.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2018

Both actors rise intelligently to the occasion.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 20, 2018

Hunnam and Malek don't quite match the sentimental odd-couple connection between their predecessors.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 20, 2018