Victorian Psycho Reviews: Critics Split on Maika Monroe’s Gothic Horror as It Opens in Theaters
Maika Monroe’s new gothic horror film Victorian Psycho opened in theaters across the United States on Friday, November 13, and the critics have reached an unusual kind of agreement: they almost all love Monroe, and they cannot agree on much else.
The film, directed by Zachary Wigon and released by Bleecker Street, sits in the mid-70s on Rotten Tomatoes, with roughly three in four critics giving it a positive verdict. It was 75 percent fresh from 65 reviews when it opened, according to ScreenRant, with the tally growing to 86 reviews by the weekend. The site’s critics consensus calls it “an enjoyably blood-soaked lark that thrives on Maika Monroe’s ferocious lead performance” and says the film “delivers plenty of wicked fun and literary wit.”
Metacritic tells a cooler story. The film holds a Metascore of 54 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, a verdict the site labels “mixed or average.” That gap between the two aggregators is, in miniature, the story of the film’s reception: plenty of critics liked it, but few were bowled over.
What the film is
Victorian Psycho is based on Spanish author Virginia Feito’s 2025 novel of the same name, which Feito adapted for the screen herself. Set in 1858, it follows Winifred Notty, played by Monroe, an eccentric governess who arrives at the remote gothic manor known as Ensor House to look after two children, Andrew and Drusilla Pounds. Their parents are played by Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson, with Thomasin McKenzie also in the cast.
The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2026. It runs 102 minutes and carries an R rating for strong bloody violence and brief sexual material. Bleecker Street moved its release date from September 25 to November 13, positioning it for awards-season consideration.
The production had a complicated road to the screen. It was first set up at A24 with Margaret Qualley attached to star. Qualley dropped out, A24 exited, and Monroe stepped into the lead role.
The praise: Monroe carries the film
The most consistent thread running through the reviews is Monroe herself. Awards Radar critic Joey Magidson gave the film three stars and wrote that “the flick lives and dies on Monroe, often as others around her die, and she’s more than up to the task.” SlashFilm rated it 6 out of 10, praising Monroe’s commitment to playing the increasingly unhinged governess even as her attempt at an English accent wobbled. ScreenRant also gave it 6 out of 10, calling Monroe’s performance fearless and wildly entertaining.
JoBlo was among the most enthusiastic, awarding the film 8 out of 10 and treating it as more satire than straight horror, with a cult future ahead. The Daily Beast scored it 85 on Metacritic’s scale, and Dread Central’s critic called it Monroe’s best work to date. But Why Tho rated it 7 out of 10, calling Monroe brilliant and the film exciting, silly and bizarre enough to satisfy horror fans.
Monroe’s horror credentials are well established. She broke out with It Follows in 2014 and starred in Longlegs in 2024, which grossed $125.4 million worldwide on a $10 million budget. Victorian Psycho is her latest bid to extend that run as one of the genre’s most bankable stars.
The criticism: a film that cannot decide what it is
The negative reviews rarely attack Monroe. They attack the film around her. David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter called Victorian Psycho a “mismatched genre hybrid” that plays as “neither horror nor comedy,” with a cast whose most consistent direction seemed to have been “Go bigger!”
Benjamin Lee at The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5, writing that it is “just not as wicked as the makers seem to think it is or as wicked as Monroe deserves.” Kate Erbland at IndieWire was gentler but found the same gap, noting that Feito’s own adaptation drops the novel’s Christmas massacre and that the climax lands “oddly watered down.”
Time Out gave it 3 out of 5, enjoying the excess while finding the killings light on tension and stakes. The Globe and Mail’s Radheyan Simonpillai called the film “adrift with nothing substantial to cling to.” Loud and Clear Reviews praised Monroe’s blast of a performance but said the film was undermined by a simplistic script.
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The pattern is clear: critics who wanted a straight slasher found the film too restrained, cutting away from the blood, while critics who wanted satire found its class commentary too thin to support the excess.
A quiet opening at the box office
Commercially, the film is starting small. It earned $463,856 on its opening Friday from 1,206 theaters, according to The Numbers, a per-theater average of about $385. Deadline reported that it was expected to post a single-digit total over the Friday-to-Sunday weekend, and box-office analyst Scott Mendelson described it bluntly as, “commercially speaking, a non-entity.”
That puts it in a very different bracket from the weekend’s other new releases. Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer, the gothic Christmas Carol retelling, is on course for a $20 million-plus opening, while Victorian Psycho competes for a much smaller, genre-loyal audience. Elsewhere in the weekend’s box office, Ramayana: Part One set India’s biggest second Friday ever as its worldwide gross continued to climb.
The modest opening is not necessarily the end of the story for a film like this. Bleecker Street’s release is aimed at horror fans rather than a mass audience, and a strong streaming and word-of-mouth afterlife is where films of this scale often find their viewers. But the opening numbers make clear that the film’s future depends on Monroe’s fans and the critical conversation, not on a breakout weekend.
Why this matters
Victorian Psycho arrives at a moment when horror is one of the most reliable genres at the box office, and when Monroe is one of its most recognizable faces. The split verdict matters because it shows the limits of star power: a ferocious lead performance can carry a film through its reviews, but it cannot settle the argument about whether the film around her works.
For audiences, the message from the critics is unusually clear. If you go for Monroe, playing a killer governess in a corset with total commitment, you are likely to enjoy yourself. If you go expecting a sharp satire or a genuinely frightening slasher, the reviews suggest you may leave wanting more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Victorian Psycho about?
Set in 1858, the film follows Winifred Notty, an eccentric governess played by Maika Monroe, who arrives at the remote Ensor House manor to care for two children. Strange happenings soon raise suspicion that she is not what she seems.
What is Victorian Psycho’s Rotten Tomatoes score?
The film is fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with roughly three in four critics positive. It stood at 75 percent from 65 reviews when it opened on November 13, with 86 reviews counted by the weekend. The critics consensus praises Monroe’s “ferocious lead performance.”
What is Victorian Psycho’s Metacritic score?
Metacritic gives the film a Metascore of 54 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, which the site classifies as “mixed or average” — cooler than its Rotten Tomatoes verdict.
Where can I watch Victorian Psycho?
The film opened exclusively in theaters in the United States on Friday, November 13, 2026, through Bleecker Street. It is playing in 1,206 theaters. No streaming date has been announced.
Victorian Psycho is in theaters now. The critics have had their say, and they agree on the star even as they argue about the film. The audience verdict, which will decide whether the film finds a life beyond its opening weekend, is only just beginning to form.
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes; Metacritic; ScreenRant; The Numbers; SlashFilm; Movie Opinions.
