The Thing with Feathers

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The Thing with Feathers

2025

1h 44m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

55%

Tomatometer

29 Reviews

Popcornmeter

0 Ratings

Following the death of his wife, a young father's hold on reality crumbles and a strange presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons. A man-like crow, seemingly brought to life from the father's work as an illustrator, is about to become a very real part of all of their lives, ultimately guiding them towards the new shape their family must take.

Tim Robey

Daily Telegraph (UK)

[Cumberbatch] is doing everything he can to keep the film in touch with reality. But the problems are insurmountable. The material is just so ill-suited to this unpoetic quasi-horror approach.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 25, 2025

Full Review

Nicolas Rapold

Financial Times

Cumberbatch’s haggardly expressive face could tell the story alone, but Southern keeps resorting to jump-scares and cage-match fracases with the crow.

Feb 8, 2025

Full Review

Meagan Navarro

Bloody Disgusting

Southern adapts Porter’s novel with poetic elegance, but it's too restrained emotionally for its stagnant and familiar depiction of a family tormented by grief turned into a literal horror show.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 3, 2025

Full Review

Rachel Wagner

rachelsreviews.net

At one moment it feels like a horror movie with a jump scare and then it abandons such attempts to full drama. Benedict Cumberbatch is good as are the child actors but it doesn’t come together.

Mar 7, 2025

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Ana Yorke

PopMatters

Cumberbatch is flawless in his portrayal of Dad, conveying with his expressions and posture the delicate nature of hurt the screenplay couldn’t, but it’s unfair to rely on his talents alone to deliver a story this multifaceted.

Mar 6, 2025

Full Review

Stephen A. Russell

Flicks (AU, NZ, UK)

Unfairly maligned out of Sundance. Yes, it’s a big performance, but as anyone who has lost a loved one knows, despair is no pretty business

Feb 26, 2025

Full Review

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Dylan Southern

Director

Benedict Cumberbatch

Actor

Richard Boxall

Actor

Henry Boxall

Actor

Eric Lampaert

Actor

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Synopsis

Following the death of his wife, a young father's hold on reality crumbles and a strange presence begins to stalk him from the shadowy recesses of the apartment he shares with his two young sons. A man-like crow, seemingly brought to life from the father's work as an illustrator, is about to become a very real part of all of their lives, ultimately guiding them towards the new shape their family must take.

Director: Dylan Southern
Producer: Andrea Cornwell, Leah Clarke, Adam Ackland
Screenwriter: Dylan Southern
Production Co: Lobo Films, SunnyMarch
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 44m