Film Threat by Tiffany Tchobanian

Everett looks at home in this role and breathes new life into Wilde. The Happy Prince proves that Rupert Everett was born to tell the tumultuous story of a kindred spirit. Oscar Wilde would be proud.

Boston Globe by Peter Keough

Everett draws effectively from Wilde’s own writings and witticisms.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Brad Wheeler

The cast is solid; Everett’s acting in particular is deep, indelible and award-worthy. We smell Oscar, one might say.

Screen Daily by Fionnuala Halligan

Wilde’s mighty struggle with himself, with his heavenly talent and earthly lusts, and the meaning of it all resonates so strongly with the direction and performance that The Happy Prince is easily elevated past period Victoriana (and that wallpaper) to move and engage in equal parts.

Empire by Andrew Lowry

Even if his prosthetics make him look a bit like James May, Everett is near-flawless, and his film is a superb showcase for an actor whose celebrity has at times overshadowed his talent. There’s been plenty of due diligence in terms of the details, and anyone who thinks Wilde was just the Stephen Fry of his day will learn a lot here.

Screen International by Fionnuala Halligan

Wilde’s mighty struggle with himself, with his heavenly talent and earthly lusts, and the meaning of it all resonates so strongly with the direction and performance that The Happy Prince is easily elevated past period Victoriana (and that wallpaper) to move and engage in equal parts.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

The Happy Prince proves that a film can be both bleak and warm-spirited, as befits its mighty subject.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

This film is a deeply felt, tremendously acted tribute to courage.

Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein

It’s a film of decided care and forethought.

Entertainment Weekly by Chris Nashawaty

Everett’s utterly fantastic performance as Wilde slightly exceeds his grasp as a first-time filmmaker.

RogerEbert.com by Sheila O'Malley

This is Everett's first film as a director, and there are times when it shows. But what he brings to the table - as a director, writer, and actor - is his intuitive "take" on Oscar Wilde and the performance alone makes this riveting and revelatory viewing.

The Telegraph by Tim Robey

Everett overdoes the lachrymosity right at the end, the one part of the film where a more subdued rigour would have served him better. At the very least, though, it’s a command performance he puts in front of us, an uncompromising feat of empathy in the role he’s made his own more than any other.

Variety by Guy Lodge

As a final, permanent showcase for a role Everett was born to play, then, The Happy Prince does the job. For all its passion-project hallmarks, however, it makes a shakier case for him being the filmmaker to bring it to screen.

The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney

Despite Everett's command in the central performance and a script liberally sprinkled with amusing bons mots, The Happy Prince generates only faltering dramatic momentum and a shortage of pathos.

The Playlist by Gregory Ellwood

It’s well crafted and compelling at times thanks mostly to the casts’ efforts, but there is an emptiness that permeates through the film as if a significant piece of Wilde’s demise is missing.

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

The Happy Prince largely amounts to a bland rumination on Wilde’s lesser-known decline.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

For every haunting sequence in The Happy Prince, there’s five that redundantly wallow in Oscar Wilde’s misery, which is Rupert Everett’s point, but it becomes wearisome.