Part thriller, part character study, Cordelia is eerie and atmospheric, putting you in the fractured headspace of its desperate lead. An impressive dual achievement from co-writer/star Antonia Campbell-Hughes.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Sometimes the walls don’t have to be closing in to create an oppressive atmosphere. Sometimes it’s just enough to have the wallpaper closing in.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Enigmatic and imperfect, but nonetheless absorbing and consistently unsettling, Cordelia offers a haunting visualization of a breaking-apart psyche.
Little White Lies by Leila Latif
Cordelia is a film of two halves and, unfortunately, only one of them is good.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Perhaps this film doesn’t entirely work all the way through, but it is a shard of malevolence that jabs into your skin.
At a crisp 90 minutes, Cordelia is as enigmatic as its title character for the majority of its runtime. But with its lush cinematography, archaically creepy set design, and outstanding balancing acts from both Campbell-Hughes and Flynn, it’s never muddied to the point of being opaque and remains enthralling throughout.
I found Cordelia an intriguing, immersive mystery that left me with more questions — not about what’s really going on, but about more mundane third act specifics — than it has answers to.
The Observer (UK) by Simran Hans
Tension is frequently punctured by clunky dialogue.