Damien Chazelle wanted to make a film set during the druggy, decadent transition from silents to sound. He created characters (played by Diego Calvo, Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt) to follow that trajectory. Shot 180 pages of script at about a minute per page. Babylon is great fun.

— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) November 15, 2022

Chazelle’s BABYLON is DAY OF THE LOCUST crossed with WOLF OF WALL STREET and SINGIN IN THE RAIN with BOOGIE NIGHTS as its structural template (with Tobey Maguire in the Alfred Molina position!). In other words, I adored all 180-plus minutes of it.

— Jim Hemphill (@JimmyHemphill) November 15, 2022

Damien Chazelle brings buckets of energy to BABYLON, but it’s never not pounding and obvious and, finally, uninsightful. Everything about it is borrowed — even down to Tobey Maguire stealing the film as its Alfred Molina. A Scorsese coke film by a squeaky clean director.

— Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf) November 15, 2022

I have some really — really — bad news to share with you, #Babylon’s a flaming hot mess, a tonal disaster, easily Damien Chazelle’s worst film & one of the worst films of 2022 💀

— Erick 𝕄𝕄𝕋 Weber 🎥 (@ErickWeber) November 15, 2022

#Babylon is both a sensational celebration of cinema as an art form and a deeply probing condemnation of the mechanics behind said art form. Overflowing with razzamatazz – gorgeous cinematography, costumes, design and full of killer performances. Pairs well with NOPE. Loved it.📽️ pic.twitter.com/DOsEi2VBAL

— Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) November 15, 2022

Not often you see mind-blowing movies made for the big screen – Damien Chazelle just made one with Babylon. It is bold, unique, intense, insane, ultimately profound. #BabylonMovie

— Sasha Stone at Awards Daily (@AwardsDaily) November 15, 2022

#Babylon/#BabylonMovie is a daring Hollywood epic that utterly shocks the senses. Margot Robbie and Diego Calva give huge performances. Damien Chazelle incorporates his signature musicality and movement throughout. Justin Hurwitz’s score is one hell of a wall of sound. pic.twitter.com/RTlL9WhaKa

— Jeff Nelson (@SirJeffNelson) November 15, 2022

BABYLON: Truly monstrous in its thudding insistence on shoving the viewer’s face in the muck and claiming it’s something novel or moving; Chazelle might be the most confident director in Hollywood today, of course he’s also got some of the worst instincts out there.

— Ryan Swen/孫天行/Sun Tien-hsing (@swen_ryan) November 15, 2022

Babylon is an ambitious mess of a film. I don’t even know where to begin with this one but the tone is all over the place. Margot Robbie tries but the script fails her. A love letter to cinema that made me hate cinema. #BabylonMovie pic.twitter.com/BnKQiOz2Zd

— Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) November 15, 2022

A coked-up Margot Robbie projectile vomiting all over the face of a stuffy old man in a tux pretty much sums up the chaotic energy and glorious messiness of BABYLON, truly the strangest, most debaucherous love letter to Hollywood ever.

— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) November 15, 2022

Babylon is a fever dream of a movie that’s best when it’s being a straight out comedy. The drama barely plays. Pitt and Jovan Adepo give the best performances in the movie. Robbie gives it her all but the character is so one note. Didn’t love it.

— Gregory Ellwood – The Playlist 🎬 (@TheGregoryE) November 15, 2022

#Babylon has some incredibly strong sequences — especially the ones focused on Margot Robbie’s character — but overall lacked focus & couldn’t support so many key characters. Lots of interesting ideas in there but the manic visuals & story structure work for some and not others. pic.twitter.com/ZF6SJLeoXc

— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) November 15, 2022