---
title: "The Room: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-room/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-room"
critics_score: 63
critics_reviews: 7
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 Room (2003): what the critics said

Critics' score 63 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative.

## Evening Standard — Tim Cooper

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 February 2017. 

The piece portrays The Room as a staggeringly bad film that has become a cult phenomenon enjoyed through audience participation at screenings. The critic singles out the interactive experience and Tommy Wiseau's enigmatic presence for enjoyment.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/the-room-probably-the-best-worst-film-ever-made-and-i-can-t-wait-to-see-it-again-a3463706.html)

## The AV Club — Scott Tobias

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 March 2009. 

The critic celebrates The Room as a worthy successor to Rocky Horror in the midnight movie tradition, highlighting its uniquely amateurish and revealing ineptitude that has spawned audience rituals like throwing spoons. He singles out Wiseau's nakedly personal pain and odd personal fetishes, such as repeated Golden Gate Bridge shots and pillow fights, as what makes the film stranger and more compelling than a typical bad movie.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-room-1798216096)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 December 2017. 

The critic argues that The Room is a more compelling and deeper work than The Disaster Artist, praising its raw, unfiltered expression of the director's personality and worldview despite (or because of) its technical and narrative flaws.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/why-the-room-is-a-better-movie-than-james-francos-the-disaster-artist)

## The Independent — Tim Walker

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 20 July 2009. 

The critic describes The Room as incoherently scripted, appallingly acted and unintelligibly edited, yet notes that it makes audiences happy in its awfulness. He singles out its cult following and audience participation at screenings for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/columnists/tim-walker/the-couch-surfer-it-may-be-sublimely-rubbish-but-the-room-makes-audiences-happy-1752708.html)

## Variety — Scott Foundas

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 18 July 2003. 

The film is extremely unpleasant and prompts most viewers to ask for their money back well before the halfway point. It singles out the ludicrous attempt to portray the freakish Wiseau character as a normal everyday guy, along with the soft-core sex scenes.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2003/film/reviews/the-room-1117921325/)

## Collider — Ross Bonaime

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2023. 

The critic views The Room as both one of the worst films ever made and a masterpiece, crediting its singular, idiosyncratic vision by Wiseau that defies conventional criticism. He singles out the way audience participation and reinterpretation have transformed it into a unique communal experience that transcends the director's original dramatic intent.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/the-room/the-room-is-good/)

## Paste — Rory Doherty

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2023. 

The critic examines The Room's enduring cult status as the quintessential so-bad-it's-good film but argues it is time to move on from that mode of appreciation, noting its scattershot structure and unintentional comedy as the source of its appeal. He singles out the self-serious dramatic intent clashing with the results as what makes it uniquely fascinating yet ultimately limiting for cult cinema discourse.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/the-room/the-room-and-so-bad-its-good-cinema)

---
© 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-room.md