--- title: "Seven Psychopaths" year: 2012 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/seven-psychopaths" fi1m_score: 72 critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 27 published: "2026-09-17T07:44:34.341442+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T07:44:45.915980+00:00" region: "US" 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." --- # Seven Psychopaths (2012) Directed by Martin McDonagh · 1h 50m · MPA R · Comedy, Crime **Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 68 from 27 reviews *In a sentence:* Christopher Walken could make us sit through a screenwriter discussing his screenplay, and here is the proof > Martin McDonagh’s crime comedy is funny, uneven and worth an evening for its actors. Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell keep it lively when the screenplay becomes too pleased with its own commentary on violent films. ## Synopsis Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell) is a screenwriter whose work becomes entangled with a dognapping operation. Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell), Hans Kieslowski (Christopher Walken) and Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson) are among the men caught up in the ensuing crime story. Marty Faranan wants to get on with his screenplay, but keeping his work separate from the criminals around him becomes a problem. Conversations about storytelling accompany the business of stealing dogs, and the violent material of a crime film starts to look uncomfortably close to his own circumstances. ## Review *Seven Psychopaths* is a funny, untidy crime comedy whose actors make the detours worth taking. Writer-director Martin McDonagh puts a screenwriter among dognappers, then uses the complications to question the sort of violent entertainment he is making. It is an appealingly awkward premise, and the dialogue gives the cast plenty to enjoy. The problem comes when the film expects us to be as interested in its thoughts about writing as we are in the people doing the talking. Colin Farrell gives Marty Faranan enough uncertainty to make a useful centre for the confusion. He is good at listening, an essential skill in a film where other people are so determined to talk, and his relative restraint makes Sam Rockwell’s Billy Bickle more entertaining. Sam Rockwell pushes the enthusiasm towards annoyance without making the performance a chore. Woody Harrelson gives Charlie Costello a useful comic excess, playing the material with an appetite that helps carry the less convincing stretches. Christopher Walken gives Hans Kieslowski the quality the film most needs: the sense of a person who exists beyond the next outrageous line. We laughed more than we expected at his patient delivery, which makes the surrounding agitation seem faintly unreasonable. He also allows a little hurt into a film that can otherwise seem determined to turn every feeling into another joke. The pauses matter, and the performance has room for them even when the writing is impatient to move on. Ben Davis’s cinematography is straightforward, keeping the performances at the centre of our attention without giving the more outrageous material much additional force. That suits the conversations, although the images seldom offer a reason to stop following the dialogue. David Wasco’s production design feels similarly subordinate to the actors, with surroundings that make little competing demand on our attention. It is an unobtrusive approach that works well enough here, but neither contribution gives the film as much character as the casting does. Lisa Gunning’s editing gives the verbal exchanges a useful snap, but the larger shape remains loose. Interruptions that are funny by themselves accumulate until the story begins to feel like a succession of excuses for another routine. Carter Burwell’s music supplies a welcome degree of seriousness beneath the comic commotion. That helps, but it cannot settle the question of how seriously we are meant to take violence once the film has taught us to expect a punchline. The more substantial weakness is Martin McDonagh’s readiness to point out a familiar crime-film habit and then carry on using it. Abbie Cornish as Kaya and Olga Kurylenko as Angela get thin parts in a film so alert to the limitations of the genre. They need more to do, and the screenplay’s knowing tone makes that shortage harder to excuse. Some of the violence, too, seems included chiefly for the jolt, with too little thought given to what follows it. For anyone who enjoys a crime film in which the arguments can take precedence over the crime, there is enough here to justify 110 minutes. A taste for black comedy will help more than a wish to see a tidy plot click into place. Bring some patience for the digressions, particularly whenever the subject of writing comes up. If talkative screenwriters already test your goodwill, choose something with fewer opportunities for one to explain himself. *Fi1m score 72, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics find Seven Psychopaths funny and well acted, with enthusiasm for McDonagh’s profane dialogue and absurdist approach to crime-film conventions. Praise clusters around the ensemble, particularly Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell, whose performances give the violent farce energy and occasional emotional depth. Even several less persuaded reviews enjoy the deadpan humour, while admirers welcome the film’s jokes about screenwriting and Hollywood storytelling. The main divide concerns whether that self-consciousness sustains the comedy or becomes an irritation. Reservations recur about the rambling plot, uneven jokes and uncertain treatment of violence; several critics find it less coherent and emotionally substantial than In Bruges. The spread is wide: Collider celebrates the screenwriting comedy and energetic performances, while The Telegraph finds the genre parody smug and derivative, also objecting to weak female roles. Between those poles, many reviews recommend the film’s company while finding its cleverness more convincing than its substance. ### Reviews we read (27) - **IndieWire** (90/100, inferred): The review praises the film as a gloriously absurd satire of the writing process. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/toronto-2012-martin-mcdonaghs-seven-psychopaths-is-a-gloriously-absurd-satire-of-the-writing-process-241732/) - **Film Comment**, Graham Corrigan (80/100, inferred): The critic praises McDonagh's dark humor and panache in navigating the film's chaotic narrative. Rockwell and Walken deliver standout performances that humanize the ensemble despite the violence and absurdity. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/seven-psychopaths-martin-mcdonagh/) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (3/4/4): It's a fascinating, amusing, daring follow-up that deconstructs criticisms of In Bruges, though sometimes shock for shock's sake and directorially functional. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/seven-psychopaths/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (4/5): The critic praises McDonagh's follow-up to In Bruges as startling and funny, highlighting its meta take on Hollywood, violence, and storytelling through strong performances and black humour, though noting some repetitive moments. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/09/seven-psychopaths-review-french-mcdonagh) - **The Times**, Kate Muir (4/5): The critic describes it as a funny, brutal, well-acted romp with a quality cast, enjoying the parody of crime capers and Walken's performance, while noting it is uneven and best not watched for the plot. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/seven-psychopaths-g2cj8w86rf2) - **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (4/5): A fun, knockabout self-reflective film with sharp humor, energetic pacing, and fun performances from a stellar cast; violent, seedy farce. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/seven-psychopaths) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (B): The critic notes the film's meta touches and pleasures in performances and storytelling but finds some postmodern gestures game-like and the commentary on violence vague. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/seven-psychopaths-1798174560) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (75/100, inferred): The critic calls it enormously entertaining, endlessly quotable, perfectly cast and packed with rich ensemble acting, while noting it is ever so slightly hollow with too much material and a plot that is basically a dance around the fact that there isn’t one. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/seven-psychopaths-review/) - **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): The film has pulp sensibilities with witty dialogue and strong cast, a deliriously twisted tale that's a must-see cult film, though lacking solid structure of In Bruges. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/seven-psychopaths/5046324.article) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film terrifically entertaining with killer dialogue and strong cast but notes it is not as tightly plotted or thematically rich as In Bruges, with more wit than weight. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/seven-psychopaths-review-colin-farrell-martin-mcdonagh-369669/) - **The New Yorker**, David Denby (70/100, inferred): The film is described as an unstable mess of lunatic invention that can lift one's mood despite its disorderly metafiction. It is praised for spontaneous elation and exaggeration of cinematic styles, though lacking the balanced tone of McDonagh's prior work. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/playing-dead) - **Total Film**, Matt Glasby (70/100, inferred): The critic describes it as an engagingly off-centre sunbaked shaggy-dog story like Charlie Kaufman taking down Quentin Tarantino, praising the profane dialogue, the fun performances from Rockwell and Walken, and standout sequences while noting it is often closer to chaos than genius. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/seven-psychopaths-review/) - **The Independent** (65/100, inferred): The critic finds the film far-fetched, relentlessly superficial and luridly violent but also very funny, praising McDonagh's flair for deadpan absurdist humour and slapstick along with the cast's enjoyment, especially Christopher Walken's emotional depth. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/movie-review-seven-psychopaths-lurid-pulp-metafiction-with-a-sly-touch-of-the-tarantinos-8390493.html) - **Radio Times**, Jamie Healy (3/5): A darkly comic buddy movie that lampoons genre clichés but sometimes conforms to them; has Pulp Fiction flavor and charismatic Walken performance, with cult appeal. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6uxumm/seven-psychopaths/) - **Sight and Sound**, Trevor Johnston (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a self-reflexive, shaggy-dog story that tries to have its cake and eat it, with strong performances but lacking moral or emotional substance compared to In Bruges. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-seven-psychopaths) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (60/100, inferred): The critic finds the meta comedy sporadically funny but slight overall, with clever observations undercut by thudding jokes. Strong performances from Christopher Walken and Colin Farrell are singled out amid the ensemble. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/movies/seven-psychopaths-written-by-martin-mcdonagh.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (50/100, inferred): The rambling narrative is a shaggy dog story that fails to cohere despite audacious riffs and engaging performances. Unlike 'In Bruges,' the outlandish elements remain disconnected and do not fully deliver on subverting genre expectations. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-oct-11-la-et-mn-seven-psychopaths-20121012-story.html) - **Slant Magazine**, John Semley (50/100, inferred): The critic praises the textures, jokes, performances and cinematic tricks but finds the film show-offy with a fuzzy core and troubling cake-and-eat-it-too approach to violence. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/seven-psychopaths/) - **Evening Standard** (40/100, inferred): The critic notes that the film takes fun and games with killers to a new level but ultimately loses the plot, becoming so self-conscious, tricksy and parodic that it disappears up its own premise, wasting a great cast despite some witty dialogue. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/seven-psychopaths-review-8392452.html) - **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (30/100, inferred): The review calls the film a debacle and overly meta-smug, critiquing its derivative Tarantino-like style, weak female roles, and failure to improve on the clichés it mocks despite a strong cast. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9727760/Seven-Psychopaths-review.html) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A-): The critic calls the film brash, brilliant, and wickedly fun, the best about screenwriting since Adaptation. They single out the wild, energetic performances from Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, and Christopher Walken as fueling McDonagh’s machine-gun script. [Read](https://collider.com/seven-psychopaths-movie-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Simon Brew (75/100, inferred): The critic finds it an unpredictable, funny and regularly excellent piece of cinema with strong moments and cast performances, though messier and less cohesive than In Bruges. It is still recommended as a treat. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/seven-psychopaths-review/) - **The Wrap** (75/100, inferred): The critic calls it a bloody hoot that mixes laughs and screams effectively, though it becomes too self-referential and distances the audience compared to McDonagh's prior work. They single out the brilliant ensemble cast, particularly Christopher Walken's standout performance, for keeping the film engaging. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/seven-psychopaths-review-its-throat-slitting-bloody-lunatic-hoot-60171/) - **Eye for Film**, Owen Van Spall (70/100, inferred): McDonagh's follow-up delivers on its premise and cast but feels more sprawling and random than In Bruges, with a lower hit-to-miss ratio. Film buffs will enjoy the meta references and nods to genres and filmmaking itself. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/seven-psycopaths-2012-film-review-by-owen-van-spall) - **HeyUGuys**, Ian Gilchrist (3.5/5): The film is an undemanding but very entertaining shaggy dog black comedy following a screenwriter entangled with dognappers. It delivers enjoyable character interactions and a satisfactory conclusion, with Christopher Walken stealing the show. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/tiff-2012-seven-psychopaths-review/) - **Paste**, Jonah Flicker (8.0): The review describes the film as a hilarious, hare-brained, spastic ride built on snappy self-referential dialogue and a game cast. It praises the ensemble (especially Rockwell and Harrelson) and McDonagh’s love-hate take on Hollywood conventions and violence. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/seven-psychopaths) - **Digital Spy**, Stella Papamichael (3/5): The critic notes the self-referential black comedy and witty dialogue but finds the plot messy and the film frustrating for those seeking straightforward thrills, though it remains funny and intriguing. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a441487/seven-psychopaths-review-colin-farrell-gets-trigger-happy/) ## Details - **Director:** Martin McDonagh - **Director:** Martin McDonagh - **Writer:** Martin McDonagh - **Cinematography:** Ben Davis - **Editor:** Lisa Gunning - **Music:** Carter Burwell - **Production design:** David Wasco - **Costume design:** Karen Patch - **Producer:** Martin McDonagh, Peter Czernin, Graham Broadbent - **Cast:** Colin Farrell as Marty Faranan; Sam Rockwell as Billy Bickle; Woody Harrelson as Charlie Costello; Christopher Walken as Hans Kieslowski; Olga Kurylenko as Angela; Tom Waits as Zachariah Rigby; Abbie Cornish as Kaya; Michael Stuhlbarg as Tommy - **Runtime:** 1h 50m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 12 October 2012 - **Genres:** Comedy, Crime - **Budget:** $15 million - **Box office:** $33 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUFUd5m7UH8 ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AT, AU, BE, CA, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IT, NL, NO, NZ, SE, UA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *In Bruges* (2008), Fi1m 83: More tightly organised criminal misadventures, with the same ear for wounded male bluster — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/in-bruges.md) - *Adaptation.* (2002), Fi1m 83: A screenwriter’s stalled work becomes a stranger, more searching comedy about making things up — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/adaptation.md) - *The Hit* (1984): Criminals argue about death with a dry humour that makes their fear register - *Wild Tales* (2014), Fi1m 83: Six short eruptions of bad behaviour, with black humour and considerably firmer plotting — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wild-tales.md) - *The Green Butchers* (2003): Danish black comedy whose criminal absurdity leaves room for loneliness and awkward friendship --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/seven-psychopaths