Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
58
(18 sources)
58
(18 sources)
-
100
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie subtly darkens its tone until, when the horrifying ending arrives, we can see how we got there. There is a final shot that would get laughs in another kind of film, but May earns the right to it, and it works, and we understand it. Read Full Review » -
88
Chicago Tribune
McKee, like Amenabar, knows how to position his film against type -- which ultimately makes May a refreshing, macabre tale. Read Full Review » -
80
Film Threat
Call it a horror movie, a psychological thriller or a feminist splatterfest, but this sort of story is tough to get right. May gets it more than right. Read Full Review » -
80
LA Weekly
The inventive and unpredictable May is exactly the kind of unexpected delight one hopes for every time the lights go down. Read Full Review » -
80
Los Angeles Times
A stylized work of unflinching control and discipline, reflecting an artistic maturity unusual in a first film. Read Full Review » -
80
Dallas Observer
With a level of dark humor akin to the screenplays of Todd Solondz, and a visual style reminiscent of Dario Argento, May is one of the funniest, most disturbing, yet strangely touching movies of the year Read Full Review » -
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
May represents something rare and unfashionable-–a smart, twisted little slasher comedy that doesn't skimp on the gore. Read Full Review » -
67
Entertainment Weekly
Though ultimately too waterlogged with student-film self-seriousness to revel fully in its low-rent joie de cleaver -- nevertheless taps into a furious atavistic energy that reflects well on the filmmaker and his fully committed cast. Read Full Review » -
67
Austin Chronicle
Writer-director McKee’s arch comic dialogue (i.e., "We’ll hang out and eat some melons or something") is out of synch with the creepy horror he wields. Read Full Review » -
63
Boston Globe
Satisfyingly, May also turns out to be lowdown genre fun, a film that nearly makes up in slacker wit and high-spirited gore what it lacks in budget and elegance. Read Full Review » -
60
Washington Post
In visual terms, it's clear McKee has a talent for moviemaking...But he's going to need better stories than this. Read Full Review » -
50
Portland Oregonian
On paper, it sounds like the start of a good film. Too bad McKee made such a lackluster thing of it. Though the horror comes from an interesting place, it's frequently forced, negating much of the humor and pathos the film attempts to instill. Read Full Review » -
50
The New York Times
Led by Ms. Bettis's discreetly campy May, the performances are a cut or two above what you would find in the average slasher film. But in the end that's all it is. Read Full Review » -
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It wants to be a "Carrie" with a modern-day "Frankenstein" twist, but it lacks the smarts behind the weirdness. Read Full Review » -
40
Chicago Reader
McKee's direction of actors is as clumsy as the stabs at rapid editing. Read Full Review » -
40
TV Guide
The talented Bettis works her heart out, but McKee apparently directed her to play May as a quivering crazy from the start. Read Full Review » -
38
New York Daily News
Novice director Lucky McKee wrote the first draft of this labored horror flick while he was in school, and for a student film, it's not bad. But it's not ready for the big time. Read Full Review » -
20
Village Voice
The flavor is textbook '90s indie -- self-regarding quirk with an occasional spasm of Solondzian incorrectness. Read Full Review »
You Say
click on a star to rate
