Argylle Director Opens Up About Film’s Harsh Reviews

Filmmaker Matthew Vaughn has delivered audiences multiple crowd-pleasing adventures throughout his career, and while his efforts might be appreciated by a number of viewers, critics aren’t always as receptive to those experiences, which includes this year’s Argylle. Sitting at only 33% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Vaughn recently reflected on how he hadn’t quite anticipated such a strong dislike of the film from critics, given how the movie initially earned a warm reception from test audiences. He also admitted that he knew he wasn’t necessarily trying to push the art form into new directions, and therefore was surprised to see such disdain among critics.

As far as whether he was disappointed by the critical responses, Vaughn candidly shared with Empire Magazine, “F-ck yeah.” He continued, “My guard came down on Argylle. We had done test screenings that had gone fantastically well. The premiere was a really fun night, and it was like going back to the Snatch days where there was such excitement. And I started drinking the Kool-Aid.”

Given that the film blended together action, adventure, humor, and romance, Vaughn thought critics would connect more with the playful spirit of the spy story. 

“It’s a fun, feel-good movie, or I thought it was a fun, feel-good movie,” the director confessed. “We didn’t make Citizen Kane, but f-cking hell, then the reviews came out and I’m like, ‘Wait, what have I done to offend these people?’ They were vitriolic. I’m not saying the movie’s perfect by any means, but I didn’t think it was offensive. That took me by surprise.”

He added, “I even went round to cinemas because I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve lost the plot now.’ It did rattle me … I’m genuinely scratching my head about that, because you can’t ignore it. It wasn’t like [just] a few bad reviews.”

Unfortunately, the financial reception to the movie mirrored those critical reactions, as Argylle only took in $96.1 million worldwide. 

Argylle is described, “Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise) is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books — which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate — begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aidan (Oscar winner Sam Rockwell), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.”

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