79
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungKiyoshi Kurosawa’s intriguingly titled Wife of a Spy (Spy no Tsuma) bookends the Second World War in an absorbing, exotic, well-paced thriller with moments of disconcerting realism and horror.
- 90The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyWife of a Spy is something like linear narrative perfection, with every scene perfectly calibrated.
- 80Screen DailyJonathan RomneyScreen DailyJonathan RomneyA film of sober elegance and control, Wife Of A Spy never quite delivers on the tautness of its build-up, but it is beautifully executed and features a number of teasingly ambivalent performances, notably from lead Yu Aoi.
- 80VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeThe film is a relatively unfamiliar fit for its prolific helmer, given its sharply evoked period milieu and restrained, classical storytelling. He wears it well: After a slowish start, Wife of a Spy unmasks itself as one of his most purely enjoyable, internationally accessible entertainments.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThere is sweep and confidence in this movie
- 75The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorThe protagonists of Wife of a Spy often act out of character, which all bodes efficiently well for the film’s slippery web of conceit, but ultimately quells a great deal of something the film is otherwise lacking in: feeling. It is, for my money, Kurosawa in low key; an interesting inclusion to a wonderfully idiosyncratic career.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreKurosawa has made a period piece with believable characters and intrigues that generally avoid melodrama. The stakes are human-scaled and deathly personal.
- 75The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe movie is sometimes quiet and poky to a fault; a few cheap pulp thrills might’ve made it feel more vital from start to finish. But Kurosawa and co-screenwriter Ryusuke Hamaguchi do gradually build tension and intrigue across Wife Of A Spy’s two hours, while also openly confronting a dark chapter of Japanese history.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichWhile this crisp and subdued Hitchcockian melodrama represents yet another unexpected pivot from a filmmaker who’s never liked putting one foot in front of the other (it’s Kurosawa’s first period piece), it’s also just a well-done slab of red meat from someone who hasn’t served up a satisfying meal in so long that it seemed as if he might’ve forgotten how.
- 63Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenWife of a Spy could use a streak of live-wire, huckster crudeness, a bit of melodrama delivered in an unselfconscious manner.