50
Metascore
39 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter Debruge[A] slick, smarter-than-usual conspiracy yarn.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberThe Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberA couple of scenes toward the end do generate the suspense that the whole movie needed. But the impact is too muted, and an air of tired familiarity ultimately curdles the entire enterprise.
- 50McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreBlame it on the weak chemistry of the stars, blame it on the way the script refuses to let them develop chemistry and the perfunctory way the story is dispensed with, but the sparks aren’t there.
- 50The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasIt’s a slickly packaged, proficient thriller first, political statement a distant, speck-on-the-horizon second.
- 50The PlaylistGabe ToroThe PlaylistGabe ToroThe sloppy reveals of the third act can be seen from miles away, turning this into a low-impact actioner where characters are turned into chess pieces, and the narrative’s aim is to strategically assemble the parts like a play set.
- 50St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSt. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsClosed Circuit is not a tense thriller about the new era of surveillance — it's a tepid thriller about the old notion that no leader can be trusted.
- 50Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekTo Crowley's credit, Closed Circuit is decidedly unflashy. But maybe that's a liability: There's a fine line between restrained and drab, and Closed Circuit falls just on the wrong side of it.
- 38Slant MagazineAbhimanyu DasSlant MagazineAbhimanyu DasIt fails as a critique of draconian security states and surveillance culture, moving too fast to properly consider any of the well-worn ideas it glosses over.
- 30Film.comJordan HoffmanFilm.comJordan HoffmanThe whole picture is lifeless and without consequence.
- 25IndieWireIndieWireMany of the problems with Closed Circuit stem from a script littered with first-draft exposition...exacerbated by unimaginative staging.