--- title: "Blithe Spirit: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/blithe-spirit-2020/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/blithe-spirit-2020" critics_score: 40 critics_reviews: 14 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Blithe Spirit (2020): what the critics said Critics' score 40 from 14 reviews: 0 positive, 6 mixed, 8 negative. The reviews are not kind. Nobody recommends this adaptation of Noël Coward’s play, and most find it broader, louder and less funny than the original. Where there is praise, it goes to the cast, and above all to Dan Stevens, whom several critics name as the one thing worth watching. Leslie Mann’s flirtatious Elvira gets a nod or two, and the production design and period costumes are admired almost everywhere, even by critics who like nothing else. The complaints cluster on the script and the tone. Critics find the farce loud rather than witty, the slapstick coarse, and the attempt to rewrite Madame Arcati as a feminist figure unconvincing; Judi Dench is variously called wasted and splendid. The spread is wide but all of it sits below the line: the kindest notices, from Time Out and Radio Times, stretch to three stars for its energy, while The Guardian and Variety find it close to lifeless. ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 18 February 2021. The review’s verdict and specific praise or criticism cannot be verified from the blocked page. The accessible page contains no review text to summarize. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/movies/blithe-spirit-review.html) ## Radio Times — Emma Simmonds Rating 3/5. The review presents the adaptation as a supernatural comedy built around marital chaos. It singles out Dan Stevens’s performance as enormous, though the available excerpt cuts off before elaborating. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ln0jq8/blithe-spirit/) ## Time Out — Andrzej Lukowski Rating 3/5. 11 January 2021. The adaptation is wholehearted but falls short of the stage play’s dizzying silliness. The review singles out that missing sense of comic excess as its main flaw. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/blithe-spirit) ## IndieWire — Kate Erbland Rating C. 19 February 2021. Erbland finds the adaptation woefully uninspired and disengaged from the play’s screwball charms. She praises the comedic cast, especially Stevens, Fisher, and Mann, but says their talents cannot rescue the limp film. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/blithe-spirit-review-noel-coward-adaptation-1234617688/) ## The i Paper — Francesca Steele Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 12 January 2021. Steele finds the film loud and hysterical rather than witty, though she sees it as nonsensical fun when taken on its own terms. She praises the cast’s comic performances but says Judi Dench is wasted and the feminist rewrite does not quite work. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/blithe-spirit-review-sky-cinema-release-date-when-to-watch-826005) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Rating 2/5. 15 January 2021. O’Sullivan finds the adaptation dull and unfunny, blaming its insipid direction and puerile, clumsy script. She praises the cast’s efforts and singles out Judi Dench’s splendid shawl, but says the rewrite drains Madame Arcati of her comic appeal. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/blithe-spirit-review-judi-dench-dan-stevens-b892557.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Katie Walsh Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 18 February 2021. Walsh finds the adaptation fizzy but overly basic and ultimately too ethereal to make its ideas land. She singles out the striking production design and period costumes as its most effective elements. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-02-18/review-blithe-spirit-dan-stevens-judi-dench) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 13 January 2021. The review finds the remake’s broad tonal shift from Coward’s suavity largely unsuccessful, despite its committed cast. It particularly praises Leslie Mann’s maliciously flirtatious portrayal of Elvira. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/blithe-spirit-2020-adaptation-judi-dench-dan-stevens-leslie-mann-isla-fisher-edward-hall) ## Empire — Pamela Hutchinson Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 12 January 2021. Hutchinson finds the adaptation less funny and forceful than Coward’s play, ultimately calling it a diluted version of the original. She praises Dan Stevens’s charmingly deranged performance and the film’s period decor and costumes, while faulting the supporting performances and forced references. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/blithe-spirit/) ## Screen Daily — Wendy Ide Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 11 January 2021. Ide gives the adaptation a negative verdict, describing it as an unhappy revival. The headline singles out the exhumation of Coward’s urbane play as unsuccessful. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/blithe-spirit-review/5156097.article) ## The AV Club — Caroline Siede Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 February 2021. Siede finds the adaptation flat and tonally muddled, with little of Coward’s dry wit. She praises the lavish design, musical score, and Dan Stevens’s comic performance, but says the film lacks spirit. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-star-studded-noel-coward-adaptation-blithe-spirit-f-1846270184) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 15/100 (inferred from the text). 13 January 2021. Bradshaw finds the adaptation tired, dated and unfunny, with little life in its farce. He praises Judi Dench’s effort and singles out her surreal occult ceremony in a beachside cave. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/13/blithe-spirit-review-judi-dench-isla-fisher-noel-coward) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 14 January 2021. The critic finds the adaptation rigidly unfunny and less modern than David Lean’s original. He singles out Judi Dench’s dry performance, but says the script’s changes and broad slapstick undermine the comedy. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/blithe-spirit-7-1234884743/) ## The Playlist — Asher Luberto Rating C-. 26 February 2021. The critic finds the comedy wildly uneven and repetitive. They single out its inconsistent tone and unfunny humor as key problems. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/blithe-spirit-review-20210226/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/blithe-spirit-2020.md