---
title: "Marnie: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/marnie/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/marnie"
critics_score: 60
critics_reviews: 8
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."
---

# Marnie (1964): what the critics said

Critics' score 60 from 8 reviews: 3 positive, 2 mixed, 3 negative.

The reviews split almost evenly, with as many critics dismissing Marnie as admiring it. Where praise lands, it lands on Hitchcock’s direction: even The New Yorker, which finds the film trashy and badly acted, enjoys his abrupt, showy visual storytelling. Tippi Hedren draws steadier support, with Empire singling out her scenes with Marnie’s mother and the injured horse, and Variety calling her credible while blaming Hitchcock for giving her too little to vary.

The reservations cluster around the film’s finish and its surfaces. Time Out notes the common complaint that it lacks suspense; Radio Times warns that the artificial sets and back projection will not suit everyone; Variety finds the climax misses its point, and Sight and Sound thinks the whole thing falters after a promising opening. The spread is wide, from Slant’s view of it as Hitchcock’s defining late work to reviews that find the performances and later stretches rough. The admirers tend to read it as psychology rather than as a thriller.

## Slant Magazine — Fernando F. Croce

Rating 4/4. 17 February 2006. 

Croce regards Marnie as Hitchcock’s definitive late-period masterpiece, praising its daring psychological and formal experimentation. He singles out the hunting sequence for fusing the film’s themes and visual language into a powerful turning point.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/marnie/)

## Empire — Kim Newman

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2007. 

Newman finds the film a compelling Hitchcock thriller, with Hedren’s performance making the strongest impression. He particularly praises her work in the scenes with Marnie’s mother and the injured horse.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/marnie-review/)

## Radio Times — David Parkinson

Rating 4/5. 

Parkinson calls the film one of Hitchcock’s more fascinating misfires. He notes that its artificial sets and back projection may not appeal to everyone.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-7iwsub/marnie/)

## The AV Club — Keith Phipps

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. 

Phipps calls the film essential viewing for Hitchcock admirers, though it can be a slog on its own terms. He singles out its queasy honeymoon-rape scene as a grotesque parody of marriage rites.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/marnie-dvd-1798195006)

## Time Out — GA

Fi1m's normalised score 57/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review notes that the film is often criticised for lacking suspense and resists classifying it as either a thriller or psychodrama. It singles out the film’s similarity to Vertigo as connected to that lack of suspense.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/marnie)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1963. 

The review finds the film’s character study intriguing but ultimately clouded, with a climax that misses its point. It praises Tippi Hedren’s credible performance while faulting Hitchcock for giving her too little variation.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1963/film/reviews/marnie-1200420601/)

## Sight and Sound — BFI

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 18 July 2024. 

The critic finds the film disappointing, especially after its promising opening, as the performances and story falter. The economical opening is praised, while the critic faults the later technical roughness and the film’s failure to resolve its competing aims.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/hitchcock-marnie-reviewed-1964)

## The New Yorker — Edith Oliver

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 24 July 1964. 

Oliver finds Marnie trashy and badly performed, though she enjoys Hitchcock’s bracing, showy filmmaking. She singles out his abrupt visual storytelling as invigorating even when the film is at its worst.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1964/08/01/boo-to-a-goose)

---
© 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/marnie.md