---
title: "Grey Gardens: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/grey-gardens/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/grey-gardens"
critics_score: 66
critics_reviews: 7
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."
---

# Grey Gardens (1976): what the critics said

Critics' score 66 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 1 mixed, 2 negative.

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Rating 4/4. 10 November 1976. 

The critic finds the documentary haunting and praises how it expands notions of human possibility by showing two classic eccentrics who live fully on their own terms despite societal expectations.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/grey-gardens-1976)

## Film Comment — Charles Michener

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. 

The review praises the Maysles brothers' film for triumphantly vindicating cinéma vérité through its unblinking yet compassionate portrayal of the Beales. It singles out the subjects themselves as brilliant, genuine performers who turn the film into a hypnotic exploration of their stunted lives.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/nyff-preview-grey-gardens/)

## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 December 2013. 

The critic praises the intimacy and personal interactions of Grey Gardens that changed the course of documentary filmmaking. They single out the compelling mother-daughter dynamic between the Beales and the Maysles' decision to let the subjects' own account stand without external context.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/grey-gardens-bd/)

## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2015. 

The critic views the restored film as voyeuristic and the unacknowledged ancestor of reality TV, noting its claustrophobic focus on the mansion and the women's lives but finding it does not enlarge understanding.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-albert-maysles-review-iris-grey-gardens-20150501-column.html)

## The New York Times — Walter Goodman

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 22 February 1976. 

The critic finds the film sad but feels angry at its presentation of the subjects as grotesques and questions whether the Maysles' direct cinema approach exploits them for voyeuristic effect.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/22/archives/grey-gardens-cinema-verite-or-sideshow-cin-ma-verit-or-sideshow.html)

## Time Out — HM

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 4 March 2015. 

The review criticises the documentary as voyeuristic and offensive, exploiting the eccentric mother and daughter without warmth or empathy. It singles out intrusive shots of the subjects for particular complaint.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/grey-gardens-2)

## Collider — Jackson Jackson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2014. 

The critic praises Grey Gardens as a pure, organic documentary that empathetically captures the complex mother-daughter relationship of Big Edie and Little Edie without judgment, highlighting its haunting camerawork and ability to evoke strong feelings. They single out the restored transfer and essential commentary as making the Criterion release worthwhile.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/grey-gardens-criterion-blu-ray-review/)

---
© 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/grey-gardens.md