--- title: "Slow Horses: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/slow-horses/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/slow-horses" critics_score: 74 critics_reviews: 9 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." --- # Slow Horses (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 74 from 9 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like Slow Horses, and the praise lands in the same place almost every time: Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb, the unwashed, wheezing head of Slough House. Several reviews single out Kristin Scott Thomas and Olivia Cooke alongside him, and the ensemble is generally credited with making a dingy office full of failed spies worth watching. Critics also warm to the approach: an old-fashioned surveillance thriller that builds its tension without gadgets, set in a London that looks properly grubby. The reservations cluster around tone. The Telegraph finds the promised dark comedy thinner than advertised, Collider thinks the series cannot decide whether it is a drama or a comedy, and Variety finds the hostage plot more familiar than the jokes around it. The Guardian is the lone dissenter, finding the whole concept too familiar to grip. The spread is otherwise narrow: nearly everyone else lands somewhere between solid and impressive. ## The AV Club — Alison Foreman Rating A-. 25 March 2022. Slow Horses is an old-school British spy thriller done right, relying on classic tension-builders rather than gadgets or CGI. Strong performances, especially from Gary Oldman and Olivia Cooke, sell the slow-burn surveillance mystery and its edge-of-your-seat payoffs. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/slow-horses-review-apple-tv-plus-gary-oldman-1848690580) ## Empire — Boyd Hilton Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 March 2022. The critic praises the grimly authentic espionage yarn populated by funny, intriguing “losers, misfits and boozers.” Gary Oldman delivers a tour de force as the wheezily profane Jackson Lamb. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/slow-horses/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 March 2022. The starry cast excels in this impressive, gripping adaptation of the misfit spy saga. It rearranges familiar tropes into something arresting and often funny, with strong ensemble work despite the unglamorous setting. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/slow-horses-review-apple-tv-gary-oldman-jack-lowden-kristin-scott-thomas-mick-herron-b990231.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Daniel Fienberg Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 March 2022. A rewarding slow burn about disgraced spies in a depressing workplace, with gritty London texture, twists, and an excellent ensemble led by Oldman’s compelling performance. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/slow-horses-review-1235121908/) ## The Times — Camilla Long Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2022. The show is a classy production centered on the decaying Slough House and Oldman's slobbish Jackson Lamb. It features strong support from Kristin Scott Thomas and a snaky plot with switchbacks, though it takes time to engage. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/slow-horses-the-spy-who-came-in-from-the-khazi-tfr399x5v) ## The Telegraph — Anita Singh Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 2022. The adaptation of Mick Herron's novels is solidly entertaining and well-acted, with Gary Oldman as the grubby Jackson Lamb standing out. It mixes espionage thrills with the misfit agents' dynamics but falls short on the promised dark comedy. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/slow-horses-review-gary-oldman-slums-inside-seedy-world-mi5/) ## Variety — Caroline Framke Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 2022. The show works best as a spy comedy with sharp jokes, strong ensemble chemistry, and Oldman’s prickly energy, though the dramatic plot elements and hostage storyline feel more familiar and less successful. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2022/tv/reviews/slow-horses-review-oldman-1235219990/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 April 2022. The series is a tense but familiar spy thriller about disgraced MI5 agents at Slough House. The critic notes strong performances from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas but finds the overall concept and execution deja vu-inducing. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/01/slow-horses-review-jaded-spies-gary-oldman-kristen-scott-thomas) ## IndieWire — Steve Greene 25 March 2022. The series offers a grimy, unglamorous look at intelligence work centered on outcasts and mistakes at MI5's Slough House. It delivers a tangled spy story that mixes realism with familiar genre tricks. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/slow-horses-review-gary-oldman-apple-tv-plus-spy-show-1234710974/) ## Collider — Abby Cavenaugh Rating B. 25 March 2022. The critic finds the series unsure of its tone, with strong performances from Oldman, Lowden and Scott Thomas but few laughs and an identity crisis between drama and comedy. They single out the dynamic between Lamb and Cartwright for praise amid otherwise convoluted subplots. [Read the review](https://collider.com/slow-horses-tv-series-review-gary-oldman-kristin-scott-thomas-apple-tv-plus/) ## NME — Elizabeth Aubrey 2 December 2022. The critic praises the return of Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb and the expanded roles for the ensemble in season two, calling it a blast with strong performances and dark humor. They single out the meticulous scripting and action sequences for praise while noting some convoluted plotting. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/slow-horses-season-2-review-gary-oldman-3359761) --- © 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/tv/slow-horses.md