---
title: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1"
critics_score: 41
critics_reviews: 21
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 Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011): what the critics said

Critics' score 41 from 21 reviews: 3 positive, 3 mixed, 15 negative.

Most critics are unimpressed, and the lean is heavily negative: fifteen of the twenty-one reviews are unfavourable. Where praise lands, it lands on the wedding, which several reviewers single out as the one sequence that is elegant and properly staged, and on Bill Condon, credited by a few with giving the material a graver, creepier mood than the earlier instalments. Kristen Stewart’s work through Bella’s pregnancy is also picked out more than once as the best performance in the film.

The complaints cluster around pace and the digital wolves. Slow is the recurring word, along with bloated, funereal and slog. The CGI wolves are called distracting and uncanny, the pregnancy plot grotesque, and a handful of reviews say the film barely stands up on its own. The dissent is small but clear: The New Yorker calls it the best Twilight film so far, and HeyUGuys finds it a satisfying, more mature entry for fans. The AV Club is warm on similar terms.

## The New Yorker

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

The critic calls it the best Twilight film so far, praising its languorous, romantic mood and increasingly disturbing turn toward horror. Bill Condon’s grave direction is singled out for making the supernatural drama more effective.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawnpart-1-2)

## The AV Club — Alison Willmore

Rating B-. 17 November 2011. 

Willmore calls the film an engaging, wildly over-the-top spectacle, especially for existing fans. She praises its warm human moments but criticizes the pregnancy storyline as grotesque and unconvincing.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-1798170539)

## Screen Daily — Brent Simon

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2011. 

The page identifies this as a review, but its verdict is hidden behind a paywall. The accessible text does not reveal what the critic singled out for praise or complaint.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1/5034574.article)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The URL identifies this as a New York Times review of the 2011 film. The page content was inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict and specific praise or criticism cannot be determined.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/movies/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-i-review.html)

## Time Out — Anna Smith

Rating 3/5. 16 November 2011. 

The review gives the film a three-out-of-five rating. The available page text does not reveal what the critic praises or criticizes.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-one-1)

## Total Film — Emma Dibdin

Rating 2/5. 17 November 2011. 

The critic finds the film grim, incoherent and joyless, and says it leaves a bad taste as a love story. She praises the wedding festivities as surprisingly good fun but singles out the dull werewolf scenes as the film’s worst.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review/)

## IndieWire — Jeff Otto

Rating D. 17 November 2011. 

The critic calls it the weakest entry in the franchise and says it barely works as a standalone movie. He particularly faults the wooden performances and the poor-looking wolf effects.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-lackluster-twilight-breaking-dawn-part-1-is-barely-12-a-movie-115110/)

## Variety — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 2011. 

Chang finds the film disappointing overall, faulting its lack of darkness and dramatic tension despite its promising premise. He praises the wedding and honeymoon romance, especially the emotional payoff of Bella and Edward’s relationship.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2011/film/reviews/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-1117946558/)

## Empire — Helen O'Hara

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2009. 

O'Hara finds the film starts strongly but becomes overwrought and often ludicrous. She singles out the pregnancy storyline and weak effects as major problems, while noting the acting is better than before.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2011. 

Bradshaw finds the film’s romantic melodrama tiresome and the franchise seemingly endless. He singles out the repetitive wolves-versus-vampires conflict and Jacob’s loyalty dilemma as especially wearisome.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/15/twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review)

## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey

Fi1m's normalised score 25/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2011. 

Sharkey finds the film lifeless and disappointing, calling it broken compared with the earlier entries. She praises the wedding sequence as elegant and superbly executed, but faults the script for failing to explore the story’s dramatic potential.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2011-nov-18-la-et-twilight-breaking-dawn-20111118-story.html)

## Slant Magazine — R. Kurt Osenlund

Rating 1/4. 18 November 2011. 

Osenlund condemns the film as a joyless, inept installment that fails to make its supposedly momentous events compelling. He especially criticizes Kristen Stewart’s performance, saying her limited mannerisms undermine Bella’s character.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1/)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy

Fi1m's normalised score 25/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 2011. 

McCarthy judges the film a bloated, slow, and disappointing first half of the finale. He particularly criticizes the honeymoon scenes for withholding the emotional payoff the series had been building toward.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-2-260687/)

## Evening Standard — The Standard

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. 

The critic dismisses the film as a mortifying bore and a poor continuation of the series. They particularly fault its funereal pacing and the leads’ unconvincing performances.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review-7427666.html)

## HeyUGuys — Laura Hills

Rating 4/5. 16 November 2011. 

Hills finds the film a satisfying, more mature installment that should please Twilight fans despite some cringe-worthy moments and questionable CGI. She particularly praises Kristen Stewart’s performance during Bella’s pregnancy.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review/)

## Den of Geek — Catherine Howard

Rating 2/5. 15 November 2011. 

Howard finds the film a monotonous slog, with only occasional enjoyable moments for casual viewers. She singles out the uncanny-looking CGI wolves as a major distraction.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/twilight-breaking-dawn-part-1-review/)

## Paste — Jonathan W. Hickman

Rating 3.0. 20 November 2011. 

Hickman calls the film bad and boring, with little lasting impression for viewers outside the franchise’s devoted fanbase. He singles out Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of Bella’s physical and emotional deterioration as the strongest performance, though the surrounding melodrama fails to convince.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1)

## The Wrap — Alonso Duralde

Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 17 November 2011. 

The critic finds the film’s material ludicrous and its performances blank, though Condon makes it stylish and creepy. The wedding sequence and Navarro’s lush cinematography stand out as effective craft.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/more-pouting-more-snarling-breaking-dawn-part-1-32864/)

## NME — Owen Nicholls

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2011. 

The critic finds the film mostly dull, though its bizarre climax makes for an unexpectedly entertaining experience. They single out the drawn-out wedding buildup as deathly boring before the shocking childbirth sequence.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-one-film-review-760532)

## Digital Spy — Simon Reynolds

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 18 November 2011. 

Reynolds finds the film sluggish and unsatisfying, with its dramatic build-ups repeatedly falling flat. He criticizes the awkward shifts between romance and body horror, which prevent the story from becoming a coherent whole.

[Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a351464/the-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1-review/)

## The Playlist

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

The headline indicates a strongly negative verdict. It singles out the film as feeling barely like a complete movie.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-lackluster-twilight-breaking-dawn-part-1-is-barely-12-a-movie-20111117/)

---
© 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-twilight-saga-breaking-dawn-part-1.md