A Quiet Passion

"Despite (...) a valiant effort on the part of Nixon and Davies to externalize the poet’s inner demons (...) the film can’t escape an underlying static quality that extinguishes the flame before it can get burning" 

"'A Quiet Passion' boasts meticulous craft and ornate verbiage in abundance, but confines Cynthia Nixon’s melancholia-stricken performance (...) in an emotional straitjacket (...) a missed opportunity" 

"An exceptional film with a searing central performance from Cynthia Nixon (...) This is a very faithful recreation of Dickinson’s world but it never feels stolid (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of five)" 

"In this it must be said Nixon does a brilliant job (...) Above all, though, it is Davies’ ability to invest even the most apparently-humdrum moments with some form of intense radiance that sustains his film (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of five)" 

"An overweeningly precious misfire (...) We get nothing of Emily's inner life, no glimpse of the place where all that extraordinary poetry came from" 

"An absolute drop-dead masterwork (...) It’s funny—not just clever or wry but uproarious, outrageous, hysterical..." 

"Though it boasts a couple of very fine performances from Cynthia Nixon (as Dickinson) and Keith Carradine (as her father), 'A Quiet Passion' is hampered by being too long and repetitive."