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Lady in the WaterMovie Reviews

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Metascore®36 out of 100 | Generally unfavorable reviews

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Shyamalan does project genuine menace and suspense into this mundane location, especially in nighttime scenes. But the magic that would transport you from reality into fantasy is missing. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    The character played by lead Paul Giamatti is a dead-on Shyamalan protagonist: emotionally distanced and something of a train wreck. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    One of the more watchable films of the summer. A folly, true, but watchable. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Shyamalan's most alienating and self-absorbed project to date. Read full review

  • 42
    The Onion (A.V. Club) | Nathan Rabin

    Shockingly misconceived, poorly executed effort. Read full review

  • 40
    Time | Richard Corliss

    Lady doesn't work. Although he detonates a few terrific frissons involving the scrunt, the stabs at comedy are lurching and arrant. The spreading of tension from one character to many dilutes the mood. The would-be rapturous Spielbergian ending is on the wussy side. Read full review

  • 40
    Variety | Brian Lowry

    A ponderous, self-indulgent bedtime tale. Awkwardly positioned, this gloomy gothic fantasy falls well short of horror. Read full review

  • 38
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    This is sloppy filmmaking, and it's likely to wipe away whatever luster still remains to Shyamalan's reputation. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    There is something bizarrely compelling about the movie. It's slower than watching a train wreck but invokes that same level of disbelief. Read full review

  • 10
    Village Voice | Michael Atkinson

    It's as if on some semiconscious level, Shyamalan, who I do not doubt is a serious and self-serious pop-creative original, is calling his own success into question and daring his audience to gulp down larger and spikier clusters of manure, just to see if they will. Or he's lost his mind. Read full review

Avg. Fan Rating:
Average Rating = 3.2 out of 5