--- title: "The Girlfriend Experience: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-girlfriend-experience/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-girlfriend-experience" critics_score: 63 critics_reviews: 14 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 Girlfriend Experience (2009): what the critics said Critics' score 63 from 14 reviews: 7 positive, 3 mixed, 4 negative. The reviews split widely on this one, and they split on the same points. Most critics admire how it is made: the available-light digital shooting, the semi-documentary editing, the improvised scenes with non-actors, and Soderbergh’s refusal either to moralise about sex work or to show much of it. Several praise the way it folds the 2008 crash into every conversation, so that money rather than sex becomes the film’s real subject. The reservations cluster on what all that style is in service of. Even the friendlier notices concede there is little plot, and a sizeable minority find the detachment simply cold, with the concept more interesting than the execution. Sasha Grey divides critics sharply: some call her perfectly cast, others say she cannot suggest an interior life. The Guardian is the outlier, awarding one star and calling the film shallow and badly acted, while The Skinny argues that leaving the viewer cold is exactly the point. ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 June 2009. Festival review. This is one of Soderbergh's most engaging and astute films, offering a cliché-free, accessible view of sex work through a smart, articulate call girl navigating the economic crash. The director's sure judgment and avoidance of graphic exploitation are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-girlfriend-experience-edinburgh-film-festival-edinburgh-1717789.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 April 2009. Festival review. Soderbergh achieves a stylistic coup with this low-budget digital feature that suggests more than it shows about prostitution and economic anxiety, creating realistic human drama through structured improvisation and available-light shooting. Grey is perfectly cast as the steely, sexually confident escort navigating a transactional world that will survive any depression. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-girlfriend-experience/5000531.article) ## Time Out — Geoff Andrew Rating 4/5. 1 December 2009. The film offers an impressionistic portrait of a high-end escort's attempts to maintain control amid unexpected emotions and events, rather than a conventional plot or political statement. Naturalistic performances and stylish, semi-documentary cinematography and editing create an engrossing, insightful study with understated tenderness. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-girlfriend-experience-1) ## Total Film — Jonathan Crocker Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2009. Soderbergh's stylish, HD-shot experiment captures a mirror-world of transactional relationships and fiscal anxiety through the eyes of call girl Chelsea. Sasha Grey delivers a cool, impenetrable lead performance that fits the film's detached, self-reflective tone perfectly. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-girlfriend-experience-review/) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 2009. The film offers a chilly, observational account of a few days in a high-end call girl's life amid economic turmoil. Strong central performances, especially from Sasha Grey and Glenn Kenny, stand out, though the piece feels short on plot or narrative drive. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/girlfriend-experience-review/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2009. The film offers a sleek, tailored portrait of a high-end escort navigating luxury and commerce in Manhattan amid the 2008 financial crisis, treating money as a more potent obsession than sex itself. It presents the central character more as a case study than a conventional heroine, with modest means yielding a stylish but observational tone. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/movies/22girl.html) ## Film Comment — Melissa Anderson Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). The critic views the film as reductive and unsatisfying, likening it to a quick hand-job that fails to deliver depth despite its experimental high-def video style and nonprofessional cast. It singles out the capture of meaningless marketing-speak in dialogue for praise but criticizes the Sasha Grey casting experiment. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-the-girlfriend-experience-steven-soderbergh/) ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2009. Soderbergh delivers an exquisitely filmed urban impressionism that dwells on the emptiness of commodity-driven lives, yet the concept proves more interesting than its execution under a cold, anti-style approach. The result is a compelling monotony that never quite delivers pleasure, pain, or a full experience. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-22-et-girlfriend22-story.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 1/5. 4 December 2009. The critic calls it a shallow, negligent piece of work that is badly acted and casually put together. He singles out the lead performance by Sasha Grey as droningly wooden with no ability to suggest interior conflict. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/dec/04/the-girlfriend-experience-film-review) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager 29 September 2009. Soderbergh’s detached, formally precise portrait of a high-class escort in late-2008 New York casts all interactions as financial transactions amid the economic meltdown, delivering an icy, one-note view of depersonalization and capitalism. The aloof approach and barriers to emotional engagement prevent investment in the characters despite strong compositions and editing. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-girlfriend-experience-bd/) ## The Hollywood Reporter 28 April 2009. Festival review. The experimental film follows a high-end Manhattan escort over five days amid the 2008 economic crisis and election, using fractured narration and impressionistic style to portray her work as performance art and a metaphor for capitalism. It is provocative but thinly sketched, with tame content that may disappoint some viewers, and a downbeat ending underscoring illusion. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/girlfriend-experience-film-review-93094/) ## HeyUGuys — Emily Breen Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 November 2009. The film is a realistic, detached look at a high-end escort's working week in Manhattan, with no easy answers or moralizing on prostitution. Soderbergh's use of non-actors and improvisation lends striking authenticity and a glossy, magazine-like aesthetic that the critic praises highly. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/review-the-girlfriend-experience-2/) ## The Skinny — Gail Tolley Rating ★★★★. 2 December 2009. The critic describes the film as a fragmented, detached yet revealing exploration of consumerist society through its cold documentary style and disjointed structure focused on money and commodified relationships. It singles out the experimental approach and point that it leaves viewers feeling cold as intentional strengths. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-girlfriend-experience) ## Collider — Peyton Kellogg Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2009. Festival review. The critic praises the film's non-linear structure and Soderbergh's confident direction as an honest exploration of its characters. They single out the cinematography and Sasha Grey's natural performance for particular praise, while noting some structural issues in this work-in-progress. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-girlfriend-experience-sundance-review/) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 December 2009. The review finds the film teasing in unexpected ways through its voyeuristic, CCTV-like digital shooting style and financial-crisis context but ultimately not fully satisfying. It praises the intrigue that keeps viewers hooked while noting limitations in Sasha Grey's performance when baring emotions. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a188226/the-girlfriend-experience/) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2009. Festival review. Soderbergh's low-budget experiment starts promisingly but becomes distant, shallow, and repetitive, bogged down in tedium despite strong opening and closing scenes. The concept is interesting but fails to fully illuminate or engage after the initial setup. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/soderberghs-girlfriend-experience-20090501/) --- © 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-girlfriend-experience.md