--- title: "Interstellar: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/interstellar/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/interstellar" critics_score: 68 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." --- # Interstellar (2014): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 14 reviews: 8 positive, 3 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Interstellar’s ambition and space imagery, though enthusiasm for its storytelling is less consistent. Praise centres on the scale of the visual effects, the immersive depiction of space travel and the father-daughter relationship that gives the journey personal stakes. Several reviews find the emotion unusually direct for Christopher Nolan, with McConaughey’s performance helping to ground the scientific speculation. Even some detractors admire the spectacle. The spread is wide, with the strongest praise and sharpest objections often directed at the same material. Empire finds the family story deeply affecting; Slant Magazine considers it simplistic melodrama that weakens the visual invention. Reservations elsewhere cluster around explanatory dialogue, thin characterisation, length and a score that can overwhelm the images. The science and sentiment divide critics too: admirers accept the stranger passages as part of a demanding adventure, while sceptics find the plotting strained and the ideas less persuasive than the imagery. ## Empire — James Dyer Rating 5/5. 7 November 2014. Nolan delivers his most human and emotionally resonant film yet, blending spectacular visuals of space with a deeply personal father-daughter story grounded in real science and wonder. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/interstellar-review/) ## Little White Lies — David Ehrlich Rating 5/5/4. 6 November 2014. Nolan’s sci-fi epic is his most ambitious film yet, if not necessarily his best; it argues that love is Darwinian while embarrassing other blockbusters but falling short of the director’s own peak. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/interstellar) ## Time Out — Dave Calhoun Rating 5/5. 27 October 2014. Christopher Nolan’s overwhelming, immersive and time-bending space epic makes Gravity feel like a palate cleanser; it has it all in grand, strange and demanding form. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/interstellar) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 October 2014. Nolan ventures into full-tilt science fiction with an infinitely ambitious, often spectacular result that is grounded by a strong McConaughey performance despite a testing running time and occasional flights of fancy. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/interstellar-review/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 November 2014. A big, long, ridiculous but hugely entertaining sci-fi opera with a clear emotional through-line in the father-daughter bond, wonky physics, mysticism, and strong performances amid its clunky mix. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2014/10/movie-review-interstellar.html) ## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Rating B-. 5 November 2014. An uneven space odyssey that effectively mimics the feel of hard sci-fi literature in its speculative set pieces and fatalistic adventure but devolves into dopey humanist metaphysics toward the end. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/christopher-nolan-s-interstellar-is-an-uneven-space-ody-1798181805) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 2014. The epic is a grandly conceived response to 2001: A Space Odyssey that bulges with ideas and emotions but achieves mixed results in balancing intimate human drama with cosmic speculation; it is never less than engrossing. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/interstellar-film-review-744059/) ## Evening Standard — David Sexton Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2014. The film offers thrilling spectacle and impressive IMAX visuals worth experiencing on the big screen, but it is undermined by overly sentimental plotting, wooden direction of actors, and a bullying score that fails to let the images breathe. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/interstellar-film-review-blast-off-with-matthew-mcconaughey-and-christopher-nolan-9845653.html) ## Slant Magazine — Chris Cabin Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 4 November 2014. Ambitious film hampered by counterfeit realism, false importance, and simplistic father-daughter melodrama that undercuts its visual wonders and turns invention into rigid, humorless business. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/interstellar/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2014. The critic calls it Nolan’s biggest spectacle but also his biggest disappointment, a colossal sci-fi adventure in the style of Kubrick’s 2001 that lacks the subversion and real interest in a post-human future. It has strong visuals but is let down by moderate acting and poor dialogue. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/05/interstellar-review-christopher-nolan-matthew-mcconaughey) ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 3 November 2014. The film is an ardently incomprehensible outer-space epic designed to separate civilians from geeks, with grand talk of physics that is often hard to understand amid loud music. It features stirringly beautiful visuals and craft but feels like a spectacular, redundant puzzle that makes one feel virtuous rather than happy. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/10/love-physics) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan 4 November 2014. Nolan’s remarkable “Interstellar” is a rare intelligent mass-audience epic that is as interested in emotional moments as immersive visuals, powered by concerns about a degraded planet Earth. It skillfully explores outer and inner spaces with a sophisticated script. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-interstellar-review-20141105-column.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Matt Zoller Seitz 3 November 2014. The film is an impressive, at times astonishing movie that overwhelms with its emotional core despite familiar Nolan traits like exposition and loud scoring. It explores themes of family, loss, and human connection through ambitious sci-fi, with standout sequences emphasizing time, separation, and raw vulnerability. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/interstellar-2014) ## Screen Daily 27 October 2014. An emotional powerhouse when it isn’t hokey and a stunning spectacle when it doesn’t get bogged down in plot logistics; it works best in its sweeping brio and homage to 2001 but is mitigated by a less visionary story. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/interstellar/5079032.article) ## Sight and Sound — Nick Pinkerton 6 November 2014. The critic finds the film tangled in exposition and clichés despite spectacular set pieces, singling out the docking scene for praise but complaining about corn-fed sentimentality. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/review-interstellar) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 4 November 2014. Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” distills terrestrial anxieties into a potent pop parable, a sweeping adventure driven by grief and ambition that fulfills genre conventions with zeal. It offers visual dazzle and thematic scope while answering a desire for adventure and comfort. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/movies/interstellar-christopher-nolans-search-for-a-new-planet.html) ## Polygon — Danielle Riendeau Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2014. The review highlights the film's ambitious ideas and sense of scale and awe in space travel, but criticizes clunky dialogue, uneven character development, and some writing flaws. It ultimately values its bold vision over safer films. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2014/11/6/7166517/interstellar-review-chistopher-nolan-matthew-McConaughey/) ## The Wrap — Alonso Duralde Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 2014. The critic finds the film challenging, provocative, and visually gorgeous in its early acts, with a stunning depiction of space travel and a cleverly designed near-future Earth. However, the third act is faulted for feeling inorganic and wrongheaded, alongside underdeveloped female characters. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/interstellar-review-christopher-nolan-matthew-mcconaughey-anne-hathaway/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating C-. 4 November 2014. The critic finds the film visually awe-inspiring but hampered by clunky exposition, stilted dialogue, and thin characters. It praises the IMAX cinematography, score, and production design but notes it doesn't achieve escape velocity due to narrative faults. [Read the review](https://collider.com/interstellar-review/) ## Den of Geek — Don Kaye Rating 4 out of 5. 7 November 2014. The critic praises the film's haunting mood, emotional pull, and brilliant visuals capturing the grandeur and loneliness of space, but notes issues with heavy-handedness, bloated script, and some clunky moments. Overall, the ambition and scope outweigh the flaws. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/interstellar-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/interstellar.md