---
title: "Repulsion: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/repulsion/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/repulsion"
critics_score: 87
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."
---

# Repulsion (1965): what the critics said

Critics' score 87 from 8 reviews: 7 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative.

The reviews are almost uniformly admiring, and they admire the same things. Most critics call it a deeply disturbing psychological thriller, and the praise settles on how completely Polanski builds a warped world from inside Carol’s head, so that her collapse looks reasonable to her and terrifying to us. The sound design comes up again and again, as does the violence of the imagery, both cited as the reason the film gets under the skin rather than merely startling. Several also single out Deneuve’s subtle, watchful performance and the film’s precise small details over its shocks.

The spread is narrow. Only one review holds back, and even that is not a complaint about craft: Eye for Film finds it hard to sit through and reads it chiefly as a study of how women are neglected and mistreated, with Carole’s reactions making sense from where she stands. Nobody argues the film does not work; the only question is how much of it a viewer can bear.

## Radio Times — Tom Hutchinson

Rating 5/5. 

Hutchinson presents the film as a deeply disturbing, hallucinatory psychological thriller. He singles out Polanski’s violent imagery and terrifying sound design for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-vyadyg/repulsion/)

## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez

Rating 4/4. 14 April 2006. 

Gonzalez finds the film a tense, disturbing triumph that makes fear and desire feel inseparable. He especially praises its meticulous interplay of sound and visuals in evoking Carole’s fractured psyche.

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

## Empire — Kim Newman

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2007. 

Newman praises the film as a disturbing, highly effective portrait of psychosis. He singles out its precise details, especially Ian Hendry’s conflicted reaction to discovering a corpse.

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

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 January 2013. 

Bradshaw calls the film a brilliant, deeply disturbing psychological thriller. He especially praises how convincingly it creates a warped world from Carol’s point of view.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review)

## Time Out — GA

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

The critic calls the film a stunning, exceptionally realised work. They single out its portrait of the protagonist’s mental and emotional disintegration.

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

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1964. 

Variety praises the film as a classy, genuinely horrific psychological drama. It singles out Catherine Deneuve’s subtle performance and Polanski’s especially effective use of sound.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1964/film/reviews/repulsion-1200420800/)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 62/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 1965. 

The page does not expose the critic’s verdict. It provides no readable details about what the review praised or criticized.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1965/10/04/archives/repulsion-the-psycho-of-65-movie-on-insanity-by-pole-opens-at-ny.html)

## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 7 April 2010. 

Kermode finds the film difficult to watch but powerful in its examination of women’s treatment and social neglect. She especially praises how Carole’s reactions make sense from within her perspective, even as others see her losing touch with reality.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/repulsion-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)

---
© 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/repulsion.md