Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Damsels in Distress

Play trailer Poster for Damsels in Distress PG-13 Released Apr 6, 2012 1h 39m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 141 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
At Seven Oaks College, three dynamic coeds -- group leader Violet (Greta Gerwig), principled Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and sexy Heather (Carrie MacLemore) -- set out to change the boorish male atmosphere and rescue their fellow students from depression, grunge and low standards. They spot Lily (Analiegh Tipton) at a student orientation and welcome her into their group. However, when the gals become romantically entangled with a series of men, the fallout threatens their friendship and sanity.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Damsels in Distress

Damsels in Distress

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Damsels in Distress can sometimes feel mannered and outlandish, but it's redeemed by director Whit Stillman's oddball cleverness and Greta Gerwig's dryly funny performance.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (141) Critics Reviews
J. Hoberman ARTINFO.com [Damsels in Distress] is genteel lowbrow farce, with musical comedy aspirations. Feb 25, 2019 Full Review Kate Stables Sight & Sound Here, both dialogue and plotting are prettily presented but unfocused, and the broadness of the comedy makes the romantic misadventures of Violet and her new recruit Lily appear whisper-thin. Jul 9, 2018 Full Review Lisa Rosman indieWire The problem is that since all these kids are so blank, only Stillman, as the narrative voice, is in on his many jokes. Nov 7, 2016 Full Review Michael Leader Den of Geek Stillman has certainly found a new strain of delightful silliness in this queer trifle. For while Damsels In Distress is far from his sharpest work to date, it's certainly his most fun. Rated: 4/5 May 7, 2024 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies “Damsels” is a quirky little comedy that is almost impossible to put in a box. It has its own uniquely wacky sensibility and is driven by its slick dialogue, cleverly constructed narrative, and a delightfully peculiar sense of humor. Rated: 4.5/5 Aug 20, 2022 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com You could add Parker Posey, Christina Ricci, and Wes Anderson and still not get a communal circle quite this strange yet incredibly appealing. Rated: 3.5/4.0 Sep 5, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (303) audience reviews
Audience Member Damsel in Distress' was, in my opinion, one of the worst films I've seen in a decade. The plot fell flat, and everything about this movie was absolutely horrible. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/04/23 Full Review Gareth v One of the more intriguing talents in Hollywood, I find Greta Gerwig rather annoying in this movie. The characters I couldn't care about and the jokes were so stilted. Lame effort Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 06/20/23 Full Review steve d The script is smart and hilarious. Gerwig is FANTASTIC. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review susan j Loved most of Whit Stillman's flicks but this one....eeeah. The first 35 minutes were engaging, witty, quirky, and compelling enough - but then it went off the rails into a fantastical-realism parody of itself. It was like Stillman was aiming to make a Wes Anderson film but he's too wry and observational to do that. Wes Anderson has wisps of sadness comingled with sweetness, directness, whimsy and absurdity. Whit Stillman is too much of a realist to pull off something earnest---so, what is meant by Violet (Cloe Sevigny) saying she is determined to learn as many cliches as she can since cliches stacked back to back contain some of the world's finest wisdom. Two college guys in their D-list fraternity, saying literally: "What color's that? Blue? OK, what color's that? Green...huh. And what color's the wall? That's green too? Whoaaa. You know it's not my fault I'm still learning my colors --how should I know the difference between blue and green? Who are you to think yourself to be superior to someone who has not yet grown into their intellect? I may be ignorant. In fact I am. But at least I'm not arrogant." Like...what Whit Stillman doing here? Who are these people supposed to be? It's not surrealism. Not absurdity. Not farce. Not even poking fun at "dumb jocks" or "stoners" or "braindead children of privilege." It's something half-considered, and tiresome. The whole movie is like that--heavy-handed instead of light-hearted. And somehow not unlike eating a underdone cupcake--smells good, looks terrific, gummy, pasty, doesn't taste great, ends up a chore to finish. Which I didn't. After the initial promising 30-35 minutes I was able to force myself to watch another 25, but no more. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Out of the modern romantic comedies from Whit Stillman, this is by far the most eccentric and filled with punching dry humor and sarcasm. Greta Gerwig absolutely carries an already charming script. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member It's very obviously a movie with an acquired taste, which would suggest (and explain) the polarity in the audience reviews. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Damsels in Distress

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Fired Up 25% 52% Fired Up Watchlist TRAILER for Fired Up The House Bunny 44% 50% The House Bunny Watchlist TRAILER for The House Bunny Vampires Suck 4% 30% Vampires Suck Watchlist Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son 5% 58% Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son Watchlist Jumping the Broom 57% 58% Jumping the Broom Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis At Seven Oaks College, three dynamic coeds -- group leader Violet (Greta Gerwig), principled Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and sexy Heather (Carrie MacLemore) -- set out to change the boorish male atmosphere and rescue their fellow students from depression, grunge and low standards. They spot Lily (Analiegh Tipton) at a student orientation and welcome her into their group. However, when the gals become romantically entangled with a series of men, the fallout threatens their friendship and sanity.
Director
Whit Stillman
Producer
Whit Stillman, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer
Screenwriter
Whit Stillman
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co
Westerly Films
Rating
PG-13 (Some Sexual Material|Mature Thematic Content)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 6, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 3, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.0M
Runtime
1h 39m
Most Popular at Home Now