72
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistMarya E. GatesThe PlaylistMarya E. GatesLaurent’s portrait of women pushed to the edge of society, exploited, and tortured for the sake of progress is uncompromising and fearless.
- 80Film ThreatAlex SavelievFilm ThreatAlex SavelievThe Mad Women’s Ball avoids caricature or stereotype, though the grounds it walks may seem somewhat familiar. Laurent treads them with skill and passion, immersing us into a period wildly different and dishearteningly similar to ours.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawContrived and possibly overheated though the film might be at times, there is real storytelling gusto to it, and Laurent punches it across with relish.
- 75The Film StageChristopher SchobertThe Film StageChristopher SchobertThe Mad Women’s Ball represents a noteworthy achievement for Laurent—a tremendously compelling, emotionally shattering period piece bearing at least three mighty performances from de Laâge, de Dietrich, and herself.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah-Tai BlackThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah-Tai BlackLaurent is determined in mapping the depiction of the patriarchal violence endured under both the supposition of scientific method as well as the social order of the world outside of the institution; however, the film struggles to keep a similar pace and substance within its story world.
- 72TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeWhat some might find dramatically unsatisfying about the film’s climax directly comments on the inequities of the era and the limited options offered to women, and there’s no shortage of rich storytelling, acting, and visual potency leading up to it.
- 70The New York TimesLisa KennedyThe New York TimesLisa KennedyLaurent has made an elegant if overheated melodrama that amplifies the villainy of Charcot and his colleagues (one proves particularly appalling) to underscore how male-centered the medical establishment was — and is.
- 58IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThe Mad Women’s Ball capably sells the fact that Salpêtrière was a naked reflection of the institutional sexism that existed outside its walls, but Laurent’s eagerness to confront the barbarism of Charcot’s hospital tends to stifle the finer details of a story that hinges on female empowerment.
- 50Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeSlant MagazineSteven ScaifeThe film capsizes in the absence of a compelling center for Mélanie Laurent to hang her directorial panache.