--- title: "The Elephant Man: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-elephant-man/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-elephant-man" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 6 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." --- # The Elephant Man (1980): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 6 reviews: 5 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to The Elephant Man, with praise clustering around John Hurt’s restrained portrayal of Merrick and Anthony Hopkins’s supporting performance. The reviews value the sympathy David Lynch builds for his subject, alongside the eerie atmosphere of Victorian squalor. Several see the film’s emotional directness as compatible with Lynch’s taste for strangeness, rather than a retreat from it. Time Out singles out Freddie Francis’s black-and-white cinematography, linking the film’s accessible humanism to its darker undertones. The disagreement concerns how much the film has to say about the humanity it asks audiences to recognise. Most critics find tenderness, dignity and an avoidance of exploitation; the negative review from RogerEbert.com finds a shallow philosophy centred on Merrick’s appearance and perseverance, and questions the story’s treatment. The spread is therefore wide, but the dissent is isolated: the favourable reviews largely agree on the performances and Lynch’s handling of sympathy. ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 1980. The film is a very pleasurable surprise with extraordinary taste and grace from the young director. Lynch builds sympathy without exploitation and creates eerily satisfying images in a conventional narrative. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/10/27/the-frog-who-turned-into-a-prince-the-prince-who-turned-into-a-frog) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 December 2005. The critic praises the subtle central performances by John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins, and Lynch's ability to blend emotional depth with his signature cinematic strangeness in depicting Victorian Britain. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/elephant-man-review/) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1979. Lynch has created an eerily compelling atmosphere in recounting the deformed man's life. Hopkins and especially Hurt deliver splendid and virtuoso performances. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1979/film/reviews/the-elephant-man-1200424631/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 1980. Lynch's film is a handsome, eerie, disturbing movie that is a very benign horror film. It presents a study in genteelness amid Victorian squalor. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/03/archives/elephant-man-study-in-genteelness.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1980. The film offers a shallow philosophy that merely highlights Merrick's hideous appearance and his perseverance. It employs the story in ways that the critic finds questionable. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-elephant-man-1980) ## Sight and Sound — John Pym The critic praises the film's moving portrayal of friendship and human dignity, singling out John Hurt's undemonstrative dignity in the lead role and the restrained mysticism blended with populism. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/elephant-man-how-victorians-dealt-with-unacceptable-inexplicable) ## Time Out — TM 10 September 2012. The review highlights the film's accessible humanism and darker undertones, praising the stunning black-and-white cinematography by Freddie Francis and the tender yet questioning portrayal of Merrick's humanity. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-elephant-man) ## HeyUGuys — Luke Walpole Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 April 2020. The film is a deeply human and emotive work that stands out among Lynch's more surreal output. The critic praises the performances, particularly John Hurt's portrayal of Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as Treves, along with the film's exploration of humanity and dehumanization. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-elephant-man-4k-ultra-hd-restoration-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/the-elephant-man.md