74
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Village VoiceBilge EbiriVillage VoiceBilge EbiriThis doc could have been a mess, frankly. But Philippe has put the film together smartly, taking us from the general to the particular.
- 80The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergEven moviegoers who know “Psycho” backward and forward...are bound to learn something new from the movie, which addresses the shower scene from critical, historical, theoretical and technical angles, down to the blinding white of the bathroom tiles.
- 80VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanFor a long time now, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” has been two movies, and the hypnotic film-geek documentary 78/52 is an ingenious and irreverent master class in both of them.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck Bowen78/52 comes to life when riffing on the psychosexual perversity of Psycho, which changed cinema's relationship with sex and violence.
- 75ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerAs many note throughout the doc, the best moments that film as a medium has to offer are found in the smallest details. And when you find something truly great, as with this scene, you can just keep looking and looking until you spiral into the same void on which the grisly sequence ends.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzFilms about single film scenes, however, represent unexplored territory. Which is why 78/52 is such an enticing prospect – a deep dive into one of the most influential moments in cinema history: the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
- 70Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyScreen DailyDavid D'ArcyIt’s a rare inside glimpse of how a cosmic moment is stitched together.
- 67The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe film picks up when it gets down to shot-by-shot analysis, allowing editors and other interviewees to break down one of the most famous sequences in movie history.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyA resourceful, if rather hyperbolic documentary that devotes 90 minutes to analyzing one of the most famous scenes in film history.
- 58The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'Angelo78/52 is at its best in cinema studies mode, examining specific compositional and editing choices made by Hitchcock and his collaborators.