while the film's ideas have been explored before in British comedy, Billie Piper's creation has a particularly frantic and self-consciously confrontational quality
via this dark comedy, Billie Piper invites us to inspect every inch of her lovely self. The resulting strip-tease is original, intense, sporadically funny and makes fantastic use of the whole cast (including Lily James, as a radiantly bezonkers bride)
stylistically bold and politically astute, "Rare Beasts" is a promising debut; In an age of anti-rom coms, it is a refreshing entry in its utter refusal to compromise or justify. Billie Piper's storytelling audacity is one to watch
it's skilfully shot, and the cast is particularly strong in an intriguing range of playful twists on stereotypes. The film also carries a solid message about female empowerment, even if it's delivered awkwardly
it's a venomous, toxic, and unpleasant film that's frequently compelling, but disappointingly uneven; Still, "Rare Beasts" works convincingly enough as a singular vision of a woman figuring out her own worth in a tortuous modern world
Billie Piper's directorial debut boasts much to admire but is still hard to enjoy; Despite Rare Beast's spirited visuals, there's something stagey about the execution and it feels weighed down by its own ponderousness, rarely springing enjoyably to life
Billie Piper's deliciously dark and deadpan anti-romcom; It's an ambitious, nervy work that occasionally trips over its own stylistic heels, but still proves, as Buzz Lightyear famously discovered, that flying is essentially falling with style
Billie Piper proves a capable director, honing in on the squeamish atmosphere of the film and ensuring it permeates every scene; "Rare Beast" may have bitten off more than it could chew, but it is a daring debut that marches to the beat of its own drum
a smart piece of work from a very smart new film-maker; In her directorial debut, Billie Piper announces herself as a truly thrilling film-maker with this bleakly brilliant inversion of the cutesy London love story
"Rare Beasts" is a chaotic, flawed, but promising debut from Billie Piper in the role of director; the film, manages to cram a lot of ideas and comic scenarios into a short space, but perhaps too much so that it begins to feel a little too abstract
by Charlotte O'Sullivan [London Evening Standard ]
by Rich Cline [Shadows on the Wall (UK) ]
