Kaleidoscope

Name: Kaleidoscope
Director: Rupert Jones
Released: 2017

Synopsis

A psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between a middle-aged man and his mother.

80
The Hollywood Reporter
Director/screenwriter Jones displays an ability to sustain simmering tension that's impressive for someone directing only his second feature film.
60
The Guardian
At its best, Kaleidoscope is like an unsettling dream featuring an Escher staircase that plunges infinitely and vertiginously downwards.
60
Total Film
Face crumpled, eyes darting, Jones captures the wounded humanity at the core of this psychological thriller. He feels the walls of his flat closing in; we feel the influence of Polanski and Hitchcock.
60
Variety
Darkly dainty as this ornate storytelling geometry is, however, it’s hard to remain heavily invested in the outcome through a runtime that, even at a modest 90-plus minutes, feels a tad stretched.
50
The New York Times
Or maybe not: Committing completely to Carl’s wobbly perceptions, the filmmakers mire us in a hackneyed swamp of narrative uncertainty.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kaleidoscope is brilliantly crafted and performed, but it’s a bit too taken with its own muddling of facts and form to truly hook into.
50
Movie Nation
Reid’s toxic smile and Matthews’ working class wantonness work. But in a role no-doubt written for him, Jones downloads his entire arsenal — hurt, shyness, pain, guilt and rage — onto the screen. This is a performance that smacks of desperation and denial, a paranoid loner making it up as he goes along.
40
Village Voice
Jones and Reid are hemmed in by the screenplay’s schematic nature.