The Wasp

A confident portrait of how the tiny humiliations of childhood can fester, The Wasp is a delicious, dark delight

"The Wasp" is an intense film that showcases the talents of its cast and director. It's a journey into the dark recesses of the human psyche, and leaves a lasting impression.

What might have been chalked up as regrettable oversights on the part of the film... are revealed to be concerted choices. And inane ones.

A spellbinding, taut and intelligent Hitchcockian thriller. Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer give career-best performances.

These two actresses are more than capable of intricate parts, but the script they were given was just a letdown.

Whether you'll find that it works in the end will depend on your tolerance of narrative contrivance... has some glaring plot holes, but if you're willing to overlook them it carries a sting.

A disturbing chamber drama, which takes you on a surprisingly twisty narrative that gets more shocking with each turn.

Whatever its dramatic contrivances, and there are a few, the success of The Wasp boils down to riveting, believable performances that command your attention.

The Wasp is above all a dramatic showcase for its two actresses - that most of the action takes place in one setting, Heather's living room, adds to this thespian powder keg.

What keeps The Wasp from becoming stagey are the performances by Harris and Dormer as they give Malcolm's dialogue the spark of real-life conversation and capture the shift in power between them.

The movie's hornet's nest of ideas will provoke thought. Not just about gender roles and man's inhumanity to man but also the crucial necessity that we cling tight to our fast-fading empathy.

It's just a questionable and exploitative piece of shallow gamesmanship.

...a plot development straight out of a Hitchcock movie, and it kicks The Wasp into a completely different gear...

Just when you think you have a handle on what's happening, it turns out you're wrong.

Strong performances and intriguing character dynamics fuel the tension in this intimate British drama about repressed rage and lingering trauma.

Morales wisely relies on his two lead actors to bring taut vitality to the proceedings. However, as he keeps putting in many circular scenes that don't differ much from each other, the intensity of their performances starts to feel inconsistent.

The ending is about as cold-hearted and calculated as anything I've seen this year from a crime drama like The Wasp.

Features rich, complex performances by Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer. Together, they deliver an entertaining, multi-layered film that keeps finding new ways to surprise.

For better and worse, you can tell that The Wasp was initially written for the stage.

The script is an airtight lair.