45
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineHigh school students (the jocks, the brains, the princesses, the criminals, the basket cases), long the favored prey of serial killers, somehow manage to fight back from the brink yet again in Detention, a bright, witty new genre mash-up.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMoves at an absurd pace and dares anyone above 25 to keep up, yet the stream of genre-hopping jokes and sight gags makes the movie an entertaining ride.
- 63Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisThe movie itself is never truly clear. If it's also never intentionally bad, its unintentional badness keeps blasting into shockingly clever places.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanIt's as if the TV character Dawson directed "Heathers," or another one, Parker Lewis, remade "Scream." Who'd have guessed that would be a can't-lose idea?
- 58The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinDetention is ballsy, audacious, and uncompromising, but the overall effect of Kahn's Hellzapoppin-meets-Twitter aesthetic is exhausting rather than energizing. It's an ice-cream headache of a movie-movie that's so relentlessly "fun," it's borderline obnoxious.
- 50Miami HeraldConnie OgleMiami HeraldConnie OgleDetention has a frenetic visual style that's fun and appealing in a lot of ways, but there are way too many elements fighting for attention.
- Horror fans will probably grow impatient with the unevenly executed "Scream"-style self-awareness, and Mr. Kahn ultimately loses control of his referential plate-spinning, in what might be another illustration that catering to short attention spans leads only to mutually assured distraction.
- 20Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfFrom the auteur of "Torque" (2004) comes this instant headache: a panicky snark-schlock horror-comedy that reduces everything to a hyperactive squall of white noise.
- 10Village VoiceNick PinkertonVillage VoiceNick PinkertonIt's one of the most obnoxious movies ever made.