Grant Hermanns Screen Rant Feb 12, 2026 10/10

Even more supportive of the script's twisty nature is the mesmerizing direction from Gilliam. Utilizing the same hyperstylized art design he had on Brazil, the Oscar nominee brought a haunting feel to the apocalyptic future.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer Willamette Week Jan 14, 2026

[12 Monkeys] will it not make you feel better about pretty much anything. But it’s a feast for thought.

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James Croot The Post NZ Jan 1, 2026

It’s our own "Cassandra Complex" about what’s transpired in the past three decades that makes re-watching it now even more disquieting, unnerving and thoroughly engrossing.

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Elisa Guimarães Collider Feb 1, 2024 B+

The fine line between the reasonable and the absurd is at the center of this flawed but gripping story about apocalypses and time-travel.

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D.M. Palmer Vague Visages Nov 8, 2023

Their aesthetic production is taken at face value, their delusion is validated by the collective imagination...

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Michael Atkinson Spin Dec 27, 2022

The movie contemplates the circularities of time, apocalypse culture, and movies themselves... That shouldn't seem like some kind of pop miracle, but it does.

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Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine Dec 1, 2022

Soothing in its inevitability, Melancholia without the really heavy devastation...

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Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot Mar 1, 2022 2/4

It is only the latest in a parade of movie downers intent on convincing us that the future will be a bleak world that is either devoid of water and gas, or one in which we've blown ourselves up with atomic power. Enough.

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Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap Dec 27, 2021 4.5/5

The great Terry Gilliam's dystopic (of course!) vision of a future where we can't tell what's real or not seems disturbingly prescient.

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Travis Johnson Blunt Magazine Jul 14, 2021

The received wisdom is that science fiction is always, when you get right down to it, about the period in which it is written, but in the grim Spring of 2020... 12 Monkeys looks startlingly prescient, even if the dates are wide by a decade or two.

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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Jun 2, 2021 4/5

...12 Monkeys looks back fondly to a cleaner air world, before the virus wars began and societal norms collapsed, and can't help but strike a chord now...

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Douglas Davidson Elements of Madness May 19, 2021

The fact that we, the audience, begin to question whether or not Cole is a time traveler at all, whether the apocalyptic future he claims to be from is real within the scope of the film, speaks to the talented screenwriters, direction, and editing.

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Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Sep 24, 2020 2.0/4.0

I didn't care largely because of the lack of authenticity that Willis brings to the character of James Cole.

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Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Sep 9, 2020 10/10

A fascinating journey, topped off with an unforgettable conclusion, made even more compelling with repeated viewings.

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Sezín Koehler Black Girl Nerds May 13, 2020 5/5

Prevention, not time travel, is the key to halting a viral contagion.

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Gabriel Ricard Cultured Vultures Oct 30, 2019 10/10

Gilliam seems to stick pretty intently to the script, but his visual genius comes through repeatedly. He is also perhaps one of the best filmmakers at creating dreamscapes which threaten to crack apart, become sentient, and then turn murderous.

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Sergio Benítez Espinof Aug 24, 2019

if there is something that stands out above everything else is the hypnotic production design that Gilliam and his team creates for the future in which the action starts. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Dec 21, 2018 3.5/4

A heady, harrowing and heartbreaking sci-fi thriller that rarely stops tossing red herrings into the gaping mouths of viewers trying to piece it all together.

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Paul Chambers Movie Chambers Oct 26, 2018 A

Not only does it bear the mark of the erratic filmmaking genius, Terry Gilliam. It gives fans of the sci-fi genre something to love: An intelligent film on time travel that begs a second viewing.

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Ed Potton The Times (UK) Oct 12, 2018 4/5

This dystopian time-travelling sci-fi is a reminder that the director can make films that are visually inventive, intellectually engaging and downright exciting.

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