79
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91Entertainment WeeklyDavid CanfieldEntertainment WeeklyDavid CanfieldIt’s brainy, sure, but the emotional experience is what’s most vivid. The plot beats may confound you, but the feelings behind them are crystal-clear.
- 91IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandAs Levine unravels clever jabs and jibes at current culture — few recent features have so smartly picked apart both feminism and caveman culture with such insight and humor — tenuous bonds break down.
- 91The PlaylistRobert DanielsThe PlaylistRobert DanielsUnique and unfazed, hilarious yet philosophical, Black Bear is the comedic form reinvented and re-conformed to mad and intoxicating ends.
- 91ConsequenceClint WorthingtonConsequenceClint WorthingtonMore than a metatextual look at the struggles of indie filmmakers to gnaw at their own emotional wounds, Black Bear is an astounding showcase for its leads, and way more than it says on the wrapper.
- 83The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdBlack Bear is the movie that proves, beyond any lingering doubt, that Aubrey Plaza has much more to offer than the best eye-roll in the business. Maybe that was clear already.
- 80Film ThreatFilm ThreatThroughout clever turns and twists of the plot, Levine presents a meditation and deconstruction on life imitating art and vice versa with a dash of Robert Altman and a nod to David Mamet as players fill in the story.
- 75The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakWe read into what’s been provided in ways that resonate with us personally whether or not the resulting thoughts were consciously presented. We make films ours.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenShot through with darkly existentialist humor, the film finds Aubrey Plaza throwing a gauntlet to filmmakers who have typecast her in the past.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyA slippery psychological drama that starts out talky and perhaps intentionally distancing but becomes retroactively gripping once its big switch is revealed, this is a darkly playful deconstruction of the indie filmmaking process that digs into the artist-muse dynamic and the power structures in relationships, constantly teasing the viewer as to what's real and what's part of the writer character's imagination.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThis adventurous seriocomedy has enough surprising elements and off-kilter humor to keep one intrigued, even if the payoff is debatable.