Enter a Rotten Tomatoes movie slug to inspect the stored movie, batches, snapshots, and reviews.
Movie ID: 799
RT slug: spoiler_alert_2022
RT URL: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spoiler_alert_2022
Release year: 2022
Runtime: 112 mins
Wide release date: 2022-12-09
Limited release date: —
Festival premiere date: —
Streaming release date: 2023-02-03
Tomatometer final: 87%
Audience score final: —
Genres: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+, Romance
Directors: Michael Showalter
Writers: Dan Savage, David Marshall Grant
Producers: Alison Mo Massey, Jim Parsons, Jordana Mollick, Michael Showalter, Todd Spiewak
MPAA rating: PG-13
Executive Producers: —
Created: 2026-06-17 18:59:51
Updated: 2026-06-17 18:59:51
Based on Michael Ausiello's best-selling memoir "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies," the film is a heartwarming, funny and life-affirming story of how Michael and Kit's relationship is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill.
It can be frustratingly uneven, but strong performances from a talented cast help Spoiler Alert stay on the right side of saccharine.
Canonical reviews: 94
Canonical fresh: 82
Canonical rotten: 12
Canonical calculated Tomatometer: 87%
Latest snapshot UTC: 2026-06-17 13:40:07
Snapshot Tomatometer: 87%
Snapshot review count: 94
Snapshot fresh count: 82
Snapshot rotten count: 12
Source note: Imported from manual review paste batch #1428 (full_snapshot)
| Company | Role |
|---|---|
| Focus Features | distributor |
| Semi-Formal Productions | production |
| That's Wonderful Productions | production |
| Universal Films | production |
| Billing | Name | Character |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Parsons | Michael Ausiello |
| 2 | Ben Aldridge | Kit Cowan |
| 3 | Sally Field | Marilyn |
| 4 | Bill Irwin | Bob |
| 5 | Jeffery Self | Nick |
| Batch ID | Status | Mode | Created | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 815 | processed | — | 2026-06-17 18:59:51 | Processed successfully into movie_id=799 using update_mode=merge_non_empty. |
| Batch ID | Local Snapshot | UTC Snapshot | Entered % | Entered Count | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1428 | 2026-06-17 08:40:00 (America/Panama) | 2026-06-17 13:40:07 | 87% | 94 | processed | Mode=full_snapshot. Processed 94 row(s); 0 row error(s). Parsed unique reviews in this batch=94, fresh=82, rotten=12, tomatometer=87%. Net new reviews added=94, fresh=82, rotten=12. Current canonical totals=94 reviews, 82 fresh, 12 rotten, tomatometer=87% (87.234%). Entered review count matched parsed batch count (94). Entered tomatometer matched parsed batch value (87%). |
| ID | Critic | Outlet | Fresh? | Score | RT Time Raw | Approx Published UTC | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 178521 | Mark Williams | Radio Times | Fresh | 3/5 | 2024-04-04T18:21:49Z | 2024-04-04 18:21:49 | This could easily have become a cynical and manipulative tear-jerker. However, director Michael Showalter nimbly avoids mawkishness in much the same way he did with The Big Sick, and the result is both tongue-in-cheek and touching. |
| 178522 | Maxance Vincent | InSession Film | Fresh | B+ | 2024-03-06T01:15:20Z | 2024-03-06 01:15:20 | Sure, it’s an amazingly conventional biopic, going through the ups and downs of Michael’s time with Kit. But it’s also increasingly earnest. |
| 178523 | Dave Giannini | InSession Film | Fresh | — | 2024-02-27T22:54:27Z | 2024-02-27 22:54:27 | Jim Parsons, in a lead role, truly surprised me with his range. Plus, the film really takes its time ge.tting to all the sadness. You learn to love this couple through their trials and tribulations and it is wildly effective. |
| 178524 | Prabhjot Bains | Tilt Magazine | Fresh | — | 2023-08-06T15:54:47Z | 2023-08-06 15:54:47 | Spoiler Alert, despite its lackluster direction and oddly generic seriocomedy, beats all the odds to reach a rare level of poignancy for mainstream efforts. |
| 178525 | Jillian Chilingerian | Offscreen Central | Fresh | — | 2023-07-25T20:38:35Z | 2023-07-25 20:38:35 | Spoiler Alert is a sentimental snapshot of a relationship with an inevitable ending that shares the importance of grasping onto something you love before it leaves you through |
| 178526 | Zach Pope | Zach Pope Reviews | Fresh | — | 2023-07-25T19:40:09Z | 2023-07-25 19:40:09 | Great film I cried I laughed I loved how rooted in realism it was and how relatable it was Jim Parsons performance though? Great he can truly lead a movie |
| 178527 | Matthew Creith | IN Magazine | Fresh | — | 2023-07-25T19:20:06Z | 2023-07-25 19:20:06 | Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge are pure magic onscreen, with energetic chemistry that rivals any opposite-sex couple depicted in film in recent memory. |
| 178528 | Rich Cline | Shadows on the Wall | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2023-05-09T18:22:39Z | 2023-05-09 18:22:39 | Adapted from Michael Ausiello's autobiography with warmth and realistic humour, it's directed by Michael Showalter with a terrific sense of authenticity that undercuts the homespun nostalgia and manages to avoid becoming maudlin. |
| 178529 | Jonita Davis | The Black Cape (Medium) | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2023-03-14T15:08:58Z | 2023-03-14 15:08:58 | I can see 'Spoiler Alert' showing up on holiday watch lists year after year. I am putting the film on my “rainy day romance” binge list. |
| 178530 | Sarah Ward | Concrete Playground | Fresh | — | 2023-02-24T23:18:07Z | 2023-02-24 23:18:07 | When it gets welcomely thorny — when it feels specific to Ausiello and Cowan's 13-year-relationship, laying bare its early awkwardness and many imperfections — it's a richer movie. |
| 178531 | Erielle Sudario | We Got This Covered | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2023-02-23T09:46:59Z | 2023-02-23 09:46:59 | 'Spoiler Alert' is a film that tells a story of a not-so-perfect relationship that will make you laugh, cry, and feel like you're part of Michael and Kit's life. |
| 178532 | Cris Kennedy | The Canberra Times (Australia) | Fresh | 3/5 | 2023-02-15T23:31:00Z | 2023-02-15 23:31:00 | This is an occasionally funny, mostly sweet tearjerker of a film... and most couples will see elements of themselves. |
| 178533 | Jim Schembri | jimschembri.com | Fresh | 3/5 | 2023-02-10T07:02:47Z | 2023-02-10 07:02:47 | Parsons is terrific in a tough role, balancing wit with the gravitas needed as he goes from full-time writer to full-time carer. Matching him is Aldridge who imbues his ailing character with soul-enriching defiance. It’s a beautifully etched performance. |
| 178534 | Sandra Hall | Sydney Morning Herald | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2023-02-10T02:20:28Z | 2023-02-10 02:20:28 | Sometimes the tone is a little too cute but Showalter and his writers have a persuasive ability to defuse the looming threat of sentimentality with comedy. |
| 178535 | John Serba | Decider | Fresh | — | 2023-02-07T00:18:27Z | 2023-02-07 00:18:27 | Where other movies might indulge glibness or Oscar-clip force, Spoiler Alert opts for subtlety and clarity. |
| 178536 | Stephen A. Russell | Sunday Arts Magazine Podcast (JOY 94.9) | Fresh | — | 2023-02-06T07:58:23Z | 2023-02-06 07:58:23 | It is interesting... but it is super stagey... and very mawkish |
| 178537 | Cory Woodroof | 615 Film | Fresh | — | 2023-01-15T22:36:33Z | 2023-01-15 22:36:33 | Michael Showalter is competent enough to make the real-life drama sink in, and the cast is good enough to sell it. |
| 178538 | Rachel Wagner | rachelsreviews.net | Fresh | 6/10 | 2023-01-13T04:07:22Z | 2023-01-13 04:07:22 | I’d say get out the tissues and enjoy this sweet, hopeful love story |
| 178539 | Stephanie Malone | Morbidly Beautiful | Fresh | 4/5 | 2023-01-09T21:27:24Z | 2023-01-09 21:27:24 | Beautiful, devastating, and achingly honest, "Spoiler Alert" is a sweet, relatable love story — with an unsurprisingly gut-wrenching ending — about the moments that give our life meaning and the sacrifices we willingly make to pursue that meaning. |
| 178540 | Jared Mobarak | Hey, Have You Seen ...? | Fresh | 6/10 | 2023-01-06T16:34:18Z | 2023-01-06 16:34:18 | In the end it's an effective tearjerker with solid and stable marks across the board (extra points for the supporting cast thanks to Sally Field and Bill Irwin stealing scenes as Kit's parents). |
| 178541 | Chuck Wilson | LA Weekly/Village Voice | Fresh | — | 2022-12-24T19:50:39Z | 2022-12-24 19:50:39 | Moviegoers who stick around for the closing credits of Spoiler Alert will see a bit of the original video, giving the real man whose life touched so many an authentic gaze that the film itself lacks. |
| 178542 | David Nusair | Reel Film Reviews | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-23T17:40:53Z | 2022-12-23 17:40:53 | ...compelling subject matter that’s employed to mostly watchable (albeit entirely familiar) effect by Michael Showalter... |
| 178543 | Julian Lytle | idobi.com | Fresh | C | 2022-12-20T02:59:47Z | 2022-12-20 02:59:47 | I do think Spoiler Alert would’ve been better served by streaming than a theatrical release but, hey, we all could be surprised by its box-office fate. |
| 178544 | Bruce R. Miller | Sioux City Journal | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-16T15:10:21Z | 2022-12-16 15:10:21 | While tears are inevitable (bring Kleenex), there’s something about the ending that suggests all is right in the world. That’s a rare conclusion to reach with an end-of-life drama but this one finds its sweet spot. |
| 178545 | tt stern-enzi | Fox19 (Cincinnati, OH) | Fresh | B | 2022-12-16T00:50:21Z | 2022-12-16 00:50:21 | It sounds like a really heavy, sad story, and it is, but there's so much fun and joy... it's about life and the messiness of love. |
| 178546 | Alex Barr | Willamette Week | Fresh | 4/4 | 2022-12-15T19:47:06Z | 2022-12-15 19:47:06 | Rom-com fans, clear your schedule and run to the next showing of Spoiler Alert. |
| 178547 | Alisha Mughal | Exclaim! | Fresh | 7/10 | 2022-12-14T21:47:28Z | 2022-12-14 21:47:28 | Spoiler Alert contains a seemingly life's worth of crucial advice. |
| 178548 | Pat Mullen | That Shelf | Fresh | — | 2022-12-14T18:02:17Z | 2022-12-14 18:02:17 | Thanks to Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge, respectively, Michael and Kit’s all-too-short romance is a touching, funny, and frankly humane look at love and life. |
| 178549 | Elias Savada | Film International | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2022-12-13T04:08:02Z | 2022-12-13 04:08:02 | Filled with keen observant and honest life revelations that warms the heart before the moments of despair, Spoiler Alert offers up a warming cup of hot cocoa in a tragicomic setting. |
| 178550 | Sara Michelle Fetters | MovieFreak.com | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-12T07:14:37Z | 2022-12-12 07:14:37 | Spoiler Alert is a delightfully effective melodrama, one that pulls few punches and isn’t afraid of wearing a plethora of emotions out in the open for all to see. |
| 178551 | Sean P. Means | The Movie Cricket | Fresh | 3.5/4 | 2022-12-11T06:41:19Z | 2022-12-11 06:41:19 | The movie presents the struggles of a cancer patient — the chemotherapy, the depressing news from doctors, and the fear that wells up in a cancer patient’s friends and family — with tenderness and authenticity. |
| 178552 | Sara Clements | Pajiba | Fresh | — | 2022-12-11T04:19:55Z | 2022-12-11 04:19:55 | Spoiler Alert is an incredibly sweet and sincere exploration of love and relationships, and also turns out to be a touching film about found family. It succeeds in exuding what we look for most this time of year: warmth. |
| 178553 | Andrea Thompson | Wealth of Geeks | Fresh | 7/10 | 2022-12-10T15:03:32Z | 2022-12-10 15:03:32 | Spoiler Alert does more than merely bring tears, it brings visibility to the whole messy business of building and maintaining a relationship. |
| 178554 | Dennis Schwartz | Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews | Fresh | C+ | 2022-12-10T08:22:11Z | 2022-12-10 08:22:11 | A tearjerker that leaves us reaching for our tissues. |
| 178555 | Steven Prokopy | Third Coast Review | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2022-12-09T21:12:50Z | 2022-12-09 21:12:50 | Spoiler Alert isn’t trying to break new ground, but it does want to create an authentic, modern romance and embrace all that comes with it. On that level, it succeeds the most. |
| 178556 | James Verniere | Boston Herald | Fresh | B+ | 2022-12-09T20:24:20Z | 2022-12-09 20:24:20 | Proof that audiences will go to a gay love story if it's this good. |
| 178557 | Jeff Mitchell | Phoenix Film Festival | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2022-12-09T20:15:20Z | 2022-12-09 20:15:20 | Straight away, Showalter warns us that we’ll need tissues, and he’s not lying. |
| 178558 | Mae Abdulbaki | Screen Rant | Fresh | 3.5/5 | 2022-12-09T19:42:03Z | 2022-12-09 19:42:03 | Packed with genuinely heartfelt moments, plenty of humor, and solid cast performances, Spoiler Alert makes for quite a lovely watch. |
| 178559 | Katie Rife | RogerEbert.com | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-09T17:50:55Z | 2022-12-09 17:50:55 | This is a nice film. A sweet film. A film you can watch with your mother-in-law. |
| 178560 | Adam Graham | Detroit News | Fresh | B- | 2022-12-09T17:35:01Z | 2022-12-09 17:35:01 | ... While it eventually finds its sweet core, its surrounded by the shards of a much more interesting story. |
| 178561 | Marshall Estes | The Spool | Fresh | — | 2022-12-09T17:10:16Z | 2022-12-09 17:10:16 | What makes Spoiler Alert real isn’t that Kit eventually succumbs to his disease but that it depicts his death as more than a simple tragedy. |
| 178562 | Chase Hutchinson | Collider | Fresh | B- | 2022-12-09T15:36:41Z | 2022-12-09 15:36:41 | Yet somehow, even with its many flaws, the way Aldridge brings life to this story of death ensures Spoiler Alert remains whole despite its story nearly breaking itself to pieces. |
| 178563 | Jim Judy | Screen It! | Fresh | 6/10 | 2022-12-09T15:16:54Z | 2022-12-09 15:16:54 | Despite being an overly familiar "disease of the week" sort of plot, it's all still done in a funny, sad, and definitely emotionally effective way. |
| 178564 | Nell Minow | Movie Mom | Fresh | B+ | 2022-12-09T14:54:49Z | 2022-12-09 14:54:49 | A tender, inspiring story. |
| 178565 | Sean Collier | Pittsburgh Magazine | Rotten | 5/10 | 2022-12-09T13:33:40Z | 2022-12-09 13:33:40 | It’s just sad. You wanna be sad? You like being sad? (You’re not sad enough already?) Here you go, watch Spoiler Alert and be sad. |
| 178566 | Sarah Bea Milner | Slashfilm | Fresh | — | 2022-12-09T12:32:00Z | 2022-12-09 12:32:00 | Quietly devastating. |
| 178567 | Danielle Kessler | Spectrum Culture | Fresh | — | 2022-12-09T07:11:34Z | 2022-12-09 07:11:34 | Spoiler Alert is a combination of playful humor, self-awareness and appreciation for the moments that often go unnoticed in life, giving its audience permission to do the same. |
| 178568 | Odie Henderson | Boston Globe | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-09T02:37:52Z | 2022-12-09 02:37:52 | Parsons and Aldridge have fantastic chemistry together. |
| 178569 | Richard Roeper | Chicago Sun-Times | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-09T01:21:07Z | 2022-12-09 01:21:07 | As you’d expect, Sally Field and Bill Irwin are great together as Kit’s parents, who are so loving and accepting, you wonder why Kit waited so long to come out to them. |
| 178570 | Mark Meszoros | The News-Herald (Willoughby, OH) | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-08T22:39:54Z | 2022-12-08 22:39:54 | With a deft touch, Showalter infuses what ultimately is a heartbreaking story with life and laughs. |
| 178571 | Brian Eggert | Deep Focus Review | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-08T20:51:31Z | 2022-12-08 20:51:31 | Spoiler Alert is an endearing romance in the first half and an effective tearjerker in the second, and both aspects work as intended. |
| 178572 | Richard Whittaker | Austin Chronicle | Fresh | 3/5 | 2022-12-08T18:32:43Z | 2022-12-08 18:32:43 | Spoiler Alert is at its best when it's not afraid to be mawkish, sentimental, soppy, honest, and downright charming. |
| 178573 | Frank Swietek | One Guy's Opinion | Rotten | C | 2022-12-08T17:51:43Z | 2022-12-08 17:51:43 | Tells a story that, while formulaic, can’t help but be touching. But while it may succeed in wringing a few tears from you, in retrospect you probably won’t feel they’ve been earned. |
| 178574 | KiMi Robinson | Arizona Republic | Fresh | 4/5 | 2022-12-08T17:12:59Z | 2022-12-08 17:12:59 | A beautifully balanced and well-paced film that knows when to be brutally honest and when to give viewers a moment of reprieve. |
| 178575 | Mark Dujsik | Mark Reviews Movies | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-08T15:25:09Z | 2022-12-08 15:25:09 | Despite and because of the ending, this film is a love story. It's a good one, at that... |
| 178576 | J. Don Birnam | Below the Line | Fresh | B | 2022-12-08T13:24:38Z | 2022-12-08 13:24:38 | A heart-warming, personal tale, though one that is difficult to watch given its inherent sadness. Sally Field shines through as she always does in family dramas |
| 178577 | Manuel Betancourt | AV Club | Fresh | B- | 2022-12-08T01:22:03Z | 2022-12-08 01:22:03 | When the film lets its guard down—namely, whenever Aldridge gets to deploy his charm as Kit or manages to let Field echo a weathered kind of Steel Magnolias screen presence—the film sings. |
| 178578 | Robert Kojder | Flickering Myth | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2022-12-07T21:12:39Z | 2022-12-07 21:12:39 | Much of Spoiler Alert is surface-level, presumably because the filmmakers only have so much time before the story has to shift gears into something overly familiar and saccharine |
| 178579 | Tara McNamara | Common Sense Media | Fresh | 4/5 | 2022-12-07T18:14:52Z | 2022-12-07 18:14:52 | Audiences typically adore these films, while critics are more "meh," and Spoiler Alert is no exception. But in this case, being a B- movie is perfect. |
| 178580 | Joe Lipsett | Queer.Horror.Movies. | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2022-12-07T16:00:18Z | 2022-12-07 16:00:18 | What’s charming about the film, aside from the easygoing chemistry between Parsons and Aldridge (both out gay actors), is how simply Spoiler Alert presents a romantic queer relationship. |
| 178581 | Andrew Parker | The Gate | Fresh | 7/10 | 2022-12-07T14:41:58Z | 2022-12-07 14:41:58 | Taken on its own terms as a character study that isn’t trying to pull the wool over the audience’s eyes for maximum tears by the end, Showalter’s film is a commendable one. |
| 178582 | Kristen Page-Kirby | Washington Post | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-12-07T11:37:08Z | 2022-12-07 11:37:08 | Unlike so many “illness movies” — I’m looking at you, Nicholas Sparks — Kit’s life is not mined for the lessons it teaches us. |
| 178583 | Tim Cogshell | FilmWeek (LAist) | Fresh | — | 2022-12-06T22:40:22Z | 2022-12-06 22:40:22 | Reaches for humor without jokes... once in a while a few films achieve that, and this is one of them. |
| 178584 | Wendy Lee Szany | The Movie Couple | Fresh | — | 2022-12-06T21:11:42Z | 2022-12-06 21:11:42 | The story of Michael and Kit is beautiful and heart-wrenching. Fantastic casting and performance by Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge. Bring tissues with you because you will end up in tears. |
| 178585 | Jocelyn Noveck | Associated Press | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2022-12-06T18:58:14Z | 2022-12-06 18:58:14 | At times “Spoiler Alert” feels like an edgy, clever film that plays wittily on the main character’s lifelong obsession with TV. At others, it feels like a more formulaic, holiday-themed tearjerker. |
| 178586 | Rachel Ho | Globe and Mail | Fresh | — | 2022-12-06T15:39:06Z | 2022-12-06 15:39:06 | The film is a testament to the beautiful greys in love that may sting in the moment, but when a bigger picture is forced upon us, are appreciated for the balance they provide. |
| 178587 | Jim Slotek | Original Cin | Rotten | C | 2022-12-06T14:09:35Z | 2022-12-06 14:09:35 | Earnest, emotional, good-hearted and edgeless. |
| 178588 | Coleman Spilde | The Daily Beast | Fresh | — | 2022-12-05T22:01:50Z | 2022-12-05 22:01:50 | It will rip your heart out in the best possible way. |
| 178589 | Emily Zemler | Observer | Fresh | 2.5/4 | 2022-12-05T11:59:57Z | 2022-12-05 11:59:57 | This is probably best to skip if you have history of helping a loved one through cancer, but for everyone else it’s a solid weekend watch once it hits streaming. |
| 178590 | Carla Hay | Culture Mix | Fresh | — | 2022-12-04T23:58:53Z | 2022-12-04 23:58:53 | Spoiler Alert can get awfully treacly, and the movie's ending fizzles out in a trite manner, but there are plenty of other things to like about this bittersweet love story. The principal cast members give charming and believable performances. |
| 178591 | Karl Delossantos | Smash Cut Reviews | Fresh | 4/5 | 2022-12-04T22:35:25Z | 2022-12-04 22:35:25 | Spoiler Alert is funny but not forced. Tragic but not overwrought. Romantic but not unrealistic. It hits all the beats in each of its genres while delivering a satisfying albeit devastating tragi-rom-com that says love is worth the pain. |
| 178592 | Kate Sánchez | But Why Tho? | Fresh | — | 2022-12-03T18:50:00Z | 2022-12-03 18:50:00 | Spoiler Alert's authentic take on love and the difficulties that come with it, makes it a film that captures more about being human than most romances, and that's why it thrives. |
| 178593 | Siddhant Adlakha | IGN Movies | Fresh | 6/10 | 2022-12-02T21:45:37Z | 2022-12-02 21:45:37 | Kneecapped by the plainness of its storytelling, and only marginally saved by its performances. |
| 178594 | Patrick Gomez | Entertainment Weekly | Fresh | B+ | 2022-12-02T21:32:08Z | 2022-12-02 21:32:08 | Showalter ultimately succeeds because he never loses focus of the heart at the core of his story. |
| 178595 | Todd Jorgenson | Cinemalogue | Rotten | — | 2022-12-02T20:02:38Z | 2022-12-02 20:02:38 | ... feels sincere yet calculated, enabling moviegoers to witness Michael's joy and pain without experiencing it on a more visceral level. |
| 178596 | Benjamin Lee | Guardian | Rotten | 2/5 | 2022-12-02T19:44:29Z | 2022-12-02 19:44:29 | Spoiler alert: we deserve better. |
| 178597 | Jason Adams | Mashable | Fresh | — | 2022-12-02T14:42:47Z | 2022-12-02 14:42:47 | I was happily impressed (when I wasn't bawling my eyes out) by the meta touches and offbeat moves this movie decides to make when it could've easily been far lazier in its choices. |
| 178598 | Thelma Adams | AARP Movies for Grownups | Fresh | 4/5 | 2022-12-02T02:04:01Z | 2022-12-02 02:04:01 | We know from the beginning where the witty and warm Spoiler Alert is headed, but not how moving that journey will be. |
| 178599 | Jeffrey Edalatpour | KQED (San Francisco) | Fresh | — | 2022-12-02T00:06:12Z | 2022-12-02 00:06:12 | In a nod to her role as the grieving mother in Steel Magnolias, Sally Field plays Kit’s mother. But Spoiler Alert doesn’t succumb to her movie star presence or resumé; Field doesn’t get in the way of Parsons’ performance -- he’s in nearly every scene. |
| 178600 | Amy Nicholson | New York Times | Rotten | C+ | 2022-12-01T22:10:00Z | 2022-12-01 22:10:00 | A bigger problem is that the so-called sincere dialogue is either blunter than a soap opera (“It’s his mother. He told her not to come. I’ve never even met the woman.”) or hammier than a Hawaiian pizza (“Hey honey, I’m cancer! I mean, I’m home!”) |
| 178601 | James Kleinmann | The Queer Review | Fresh | 4/5 | 2022-12-01T20:36:36Z | 2022-12-01 20:36:36 | Crucially Parsons and Aldridge both deliver excellent performances that are precise yet feel effortless and natural and invite us in...Heartbreaking but beautifully life-affirming. |
| 178602 | Katie Walsh | Tribune News Service | Fresh | 2.5/5 | 2022-12-01T18:54:10Z | 2022-12-01 18:54:10 | Despite the narrative elements that are part of Michael’s coping mechanisms, Aldridge and Field effectively salvage the emotional core of “Spoiler Alert,” bringing us back to the heart of the matter. |
| 178603 | Steve Erickson | Gay City News | Fresh | — | 2022-12-01T18:30:36Z | 2022-12-01 18:30:36 | A warm, touching rom-com, but a strangely impersonal one. |
| 178604 | Randy Myers | San Jose Mercury News | Fresh | 3.5/4 | 2022-11-30T22:01:15Z | 2022-11-30 22:01:15 | It’s heartfelt, genuine, funny and yes, terribly sad but it also celebrates love and life, even when it’s dealing with a tragic illness. |
| 178605 | Paul McGuire Grimes | Paul's Trip to the Movies | Fresh | 4.5/5 | 2022-11-30T19:33:38Z | 2022-11-30 19:33:38 | Showalter sets out to tell a beautiful love story. He’s not attempting anything groundbreaking, but it’s sweet and touching in its sincerity. Spoiler Alert is a reminder that it’s not always a happy Hollywood ending but a real one. |
| 178606 | Julian Roman | MovieWeb | Rotten | 2.5/5 | 2022-11-30T03:52:05Z | 2022-11-30 03:52:05 | Spoiler Alert misses the mark with a tonal balancing act. It's use of comedy and fantasy to soften the blow of a crushing loss doesn't work. It's particularly evident in a puzzling climax that sabotages the most compelling moment. |
| 178607 | Todd McCarthy | Deadline Hollywood Daily | Fresh | — | 2022-11-29T23:36:19Z | 2022-11-29 23:36:19 | The film challenges itself to be both amusing and emotionally involving where matters of life and death are concerned. Fortunately, it manages to more or less succeed on both counts due to its ever-ready wise-crack nature and sympathetic direction. |
| 178608 | David Ehrlich | IndieWire | Rotten | C | 2022-11-29T19:37:29Z | 2022-11-29 19:37:29 | It made me cry at the end, but my tears were as canned and untrustworthy as the sound of a sitcom laugh track. I could barely remember what I had just watched. |
| 178609 | John Paul King | Washington Blade | Fresh | — | 2022-11-29T18:39:49Z | 2022-11-29 18:39:49 | It mostly succeeds, after an awkward start; and though some viewers might find its quirkier narrative conceits to be an overcompensation, its characters are real enough to get past all that and win us over. |
| 178610 | Owen Gleiberman | Variety | Rotten | — | 2022-11-28T17:42:15Z | 2022-11-28 17:42:15 | Unfortunately, too much of the movie simply doesn’t work. |
| 178611 | Dan Bayer | Next Best Picture | Rotten | 5/10 | 2022-11-28T16:23:37Z | 2022-11-28 16:23:37 | While there is a cozy, warm feeling to the film, instead of making comfort food, Showalter has instead created a film that feels like reheated leftovers: It looks and smells like the real thing, but the taste is a whole lot less flavorful. |
| 178612 | Dan Callahan | TheWrap | Rotten | — | 2022-11-28T15:49:40Z | 2022-11-28 15:49:40 | Many of the scenes here seem to have been shot in a spirit of tense desperation; the comedy doesn’t land, the romance takes too long to get going, and the tearjerking scenes are spoiled by a meta framework that makes Showalter’s job even more difficult. |
| 178613 | David Rooney | The Hollywood Reporter | Fresh | — | 2022-11-28T15:31:13Z | 2022-11-28 15:31:13 | This is a love story that’s frank about the waning of passion, the ebb of sexual desire, the curdling of affection into irritation, infidelity and the seeming death knell of the trial separation. |
| 178614 | David Lewis | San Francisco Chronicle | Fresh | 3/4 | 2022-11-28T15:10:47Z | 2022-11-28 15:10:47 | To the film’s credit, it never wallows in false sentimentality or asks us to feel pity for these characters. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil the ending. |
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