69
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80EmpireNikki BaughanEmpireNikki BaughanFeaturing strong performances and excellent effects work, The Vigil is a genuinely creepy debut which explores the ways in which our psychological demons can get their claws into our entire lives.
- 80The Irish TimesTara BradyThe Irish TimesTara BradyDave Davis’s petrified protagonist is nothing short of star-making.
- 80Paste MagazineMary Beth McAndrewsPaste MagazineMary Beth McAndrewsThe Vigil hopefully marks a trend where Catholicism no longer reigns supreme in the world of horror and filmmakers of all creeds can continue to play with decades of generic expectations.
- 75Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonKeith Thomas’s film hums with uncanny dread, milking the close juxtaposition of living and dead for all its worth.
- 75Chicago TribuneKatie WalshChicago TribuneKatie WalshHorror films often offer catharsis, but rarely are they also as deeply sorrowful as Keith Thomas’s The Vigil, a horror film based in Jewish faith and culture.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThomas keeps the tension high throughout most of the movie, even if some of his scare tactics can feel redundant.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyLike many such movies, The Vigil leans heavily on jump scares, and is arguably more effective during its tense buildup than in the climactic events.
- 65The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzIn writer-director Keith Thomas’s bid to add a layer of thematic novelty to a familiar genre, he has come up with a mish-mash that will satisfy only those with extremely acquired tastes.
- 60The GuardianPhil HoadThe GuardianPhil HoadIt still just about puts the id in Hasidic, thanks to spiritually atmospheric cinematography and a twitchy, expressive performance from Davis, who resembles Riz Ahmed, and wards off evil with that most Jewish of charms: heroic self-deprecation.