Overview
- Critics spotlight Ralph Fiennes’s Dr. Kelson and Jack O’Connell’s cult leader, with several outlets framing the film as a bold, effective horror entry.
- DaCosta’s direction is described as a distinct shift from Danny Boyle’s style, emphasizing subtler camerawork, tighter scope, and intimate character focus.
- Reviews underscore extreme gore and graphic imagery, aligning with the MPA’s R rating for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, pervasive language, and brief drug use.
- A number of assessments view it as a middle installment that functions as connective tissue even as it develops the series’ themes about human brutality and fanaticism.
- The release rolls out in UK theaters on Jan. 14 and in the U.S. on Jan. 16, with a third film confirmed and reporting indicating Danny Boyle is set to return as director.