--- title: "The Leftovers: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-leftovers/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/the-leftovers" critics_score: 69 critics_reviews: 8 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 Leftovers (2014): what the critics said Critics' score 69 from 8 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics come down in favour of The Leftovers, with five of eight positive, and the praise gathers in the same place: the decision to ignore the mystery of the Sudden Departure and stay with the people left behind. The character work is singled out repeatedly, along with the series’ interest in faith, randomness and loss. The AV Club finds it frequently brilliant and driven by images rather than dialogue, and Den of Geek rates Justin Theroux’s performance highly even while disliking much else. The reservations are about tone. Almost every review calls the series bleak, and the split is over whether that bleakness earns its keep. Vulture finds the early episodes short on the artistry needed to justify the effort, The Guardian counts too many characters and too few answers, and Variety thinks the themes and the particulars never quite join up. The spread is wide, from outright admiration to Den of Geek’s verdict that it is heavy, unpleasant and not for everyone. ## The AV Club — Emily St. James Rating A. 26 June 2014. The Leftovers is some of the most desolate, despairing television on air but also frequently brilliant, driven by images rather than dialogue and featuring compelling characters grappling with uncertainty. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-leftovers-is-bleak-brutal-brilliant-television-1798180772) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Tim Goodman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 2014. This is an excellent, ambitious drama focused on the human reactions to an unexplained global event three years later. The critic singles out the strong character work and the intriguing themes of faith, randomness, and loss for praise while noting the pilot's jarring tone. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/hbos-leftovers-tv-review-714910/) ## The Times — Andrew Billen Rating ****. 17 September 2014. The review praises the gripping HBO series for focusing on the fierce tribulations and societal breakdown among those left behind after the Sudden Departure, likening it to Children of Men in its depiction of a world gone feral. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/north-america-travel/us-travel/new-york-city/tv-review-the-leftovers-bad-education-9qdqvdp53tf) ## Vulture — Matt Zoller Seitz Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 June 2014. The critic describes the series as all bleakness, an overwhelming portrayal of despair and grief on a massive scale that fascinates despite lacking sufficient artistry in the early episodes to justify the slog. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2014/06/tv-review-the-leftovers.html) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 17 September 2014. The critic finds the series baffling and relentlessly bleak with too many characters and unanswered questions, but notes its strange beauty, promise, and focus on the human aftermath of catastrophe rather than the event itself. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/17/the-leftovers-bad-education-tv-review) ## Variety — Brian Lowry Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 25 June 2014. The series offers fertile dramatic material on grief and loss but unevenly mixes universal themes with character particulars, feeling like less than the sum of its parts at times. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-the-leftovers-1201223525/) ## Digital Spy — Ben Lee Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 November 2014. The first season is a very dark, sobering and suffocating experience with rare emotional impact; it excels in character studies and progression despite some pacing issues early on. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a612223/the-leftovers-season-1-review-exhausting-suffocating-brilliant/) ## Den of Geek — Nick Harley Rating 3.5 out of 5. 30 June 2014. The critic finds the series an ugly, heavy, and unpleasant misery fest dealing with grief and mortality in a compelling way, praising the gripping presentation and Justin Theroux's performance while noting it's not for everyone. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-leftovers-pilot-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/tv/the-leftovers.md