--- title: "Six Minutes to Midnight: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/six-minutes-to-midnight/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/six-minutes-to-midnight" critics_score: 42 critics_reviews: 10 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." --- # Six Minutes to Midnight (2020): what the critics said Critics' score 42 from 10 reviews: 1 positive, 3 mixed, 6 negative. Most critics are unimpressed. The consensus is that Six Minutes to Midnight has an intriguing historical premise and spends it on a conventional spy thriller, with several reviewers saying the real history of the school is more fascinating than anything the film does with it. Where there is praise it goes to Judi Dench, whose performance is picked out for giving her character an emotional coherence the rest of the cast lacks, and in passing to the Welsh scenery and Marc Streitenfeld’s score. The reservations cluster on the plotting, which the reviews call clichéd, creaky and meandering, with stock characters and perfunctory dialogue. Eddie Izzard divides them: Time Out finds the performance stiff and The Guardian calls the casting a mistake, while Eye for Film, the one clearly positive review, praises Izzard for carrying the character’s many sides. The spread is wide, from Vulture, which finds the film underwritten and television-like, to HeyUGuys, which thinks the second half rescues a slow first. ## The New York Times Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 2021. The page content is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No praise or complaint can be reliably identified from the available text. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/movies/six-minutes-to-midnight-review.html) ## Radio Times — Trevor Johnston Rating 3/5. Johnston finds the historical premise intriguing but says the film settles into conventional spy-movie plotting. He praises the fascinating historical material, while faulting the film for lacking Hitchcockian verve. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-dqahje/six-minutes-to-midnight/) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 2/5. 26 March 2021. The review finds the spy thriller disappointing and short of Hitchcockian. It singles out Eddie Izzard’s stiff performance as a weakness. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/six-minutes-to-midnight) ## Los Angeles Times — Gary Goldstein Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 2021. Goldstein finds the thriller largely ho-hum and its plot creaky rather than engaging. He criticizes the perfunctory action and dialogue, and says the underdeveloped characters make their motives hard to care about. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-03-24/six-minutes-to-midnight-review-eddie-izzard-judi-dench) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 2021. Bradshaw finds the wartime spy drama strained, muddled and uncertain about its sympathies. He criticizes Izzard’s miscasting and says the film’s unusual premise slows the story down. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/mar/25/six-minutes-to-midnight-review-eddie-izzard-miscast-in-strained-nazi-school-yarn) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 22 March 2021. Rooney finds the film watchable but stodgy, with clichéd plotting that undermines its espionage suspense. He praises the Welsh scenery but says attractive production values cannot compensate for shaky storytelling. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/six-minutes-to-midnight-film-review-4153882/) ## Variety — Alissa Simon Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 26 March 2021. Simon finds the film a familiar, second-tier spy thriller with a clunky, meandering plot and stock characters. She singles out the school’s real history as more fascinating than the film’s narrative, though its chilling classroom moments stand out. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/six-minutes-to-midnight-review-1234938319/) ## Vulture — Helen Shaw Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 2021. Shaw finds the period thriller weak, underwritten, and illogical, with a distinctly television-like feel. She praises Judi Dench’s finely calibrated performance, which gives her character emotional coherence amid the film’s cardboard figures. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/six-minutes-to-midnight-review.html) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 76/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 2021. The critic finds the film’s patchwork approach effective and praises its portrayal of learning, human connection, and innocence lost to hatred. Eddie Izzard’s performance stands out for confidently embodying the character’s many sides. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/six-minutes-to-midnight-2020-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## HeyUGuys Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds the film uneven but ultimately worthwhile, with the latter half more compelling than the slow first half. They especially praise Marc Streitenfeld’s score and Judi Dench’s performance. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/six-minutes-to-midnight-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/six-minutes-to-midnight.md