Quentin Tarantino’s The Movie Critic may be his last film

By Blair Marnell March 14, 2023

For years, director Quentin Tarantino has said that he wants to retire from filmmaking after completing his 10th movie — although it can be argued that Tarantino has arguably already made 10 films if Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Kill Bill Vol. 2 count as two movies. Regardless, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Tarantino has settled on what may be his final project. He will direct The Movie Critic from a script that he has already finished.

THR’s report states that The Movie Critic is said to be set during the ’70s in Los Angeles, with a female lead character. The report also speculates that Tarantino may be basing his leading heroine on Pauline Kael, a prominent film critic who was famous for her clashes with her editors and the filmmakers whose work she reviewed. Kael also briefly worked as a consultant for Paramount in the ’70s.

Quentin Tarantino Manson film — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For now, there is no studio attached to The Movie Critic, nor have any actors signed on. But THR suggests that Tarantino may turn to Sony Pictures, the studio that handled his previous film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Under the terms of that deal, Sony will return the rights to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Tarantino after a certain time period has expired.

Tarantino’s Hollywood journey began in 1992 when he helmed his theatrical directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs. Two years later, his second film, Pulp Fiction, was a cultural sensation with fans and critics alike. Tarantino also won praise for Jackie Brown and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. Death Proof, his lone movie for Dimension Films, was the only Tarantino movie that was not well-received. Fortunately, Tarantino bounced back with a string of hits including Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. That continued success is why Tarantino can write his own ticket for The Movie Critic, especially if it really does turn out to be the end of the road for his career.

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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…

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All of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, ranked from worst to best

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Few directors have the same name recognition or consistent fan and critical acclaim as Quentin Tarantino. The director rose to prominence in the early 1990s as a leading figure in the independent scene , then revolutionized the industry with the 1994 release of his classic Pulp Fiction. What followed was a successful film career that helped Tarantino cement himself as an auteur and provocateur.

Tarantino's films are long, brutal, disruptive, and demanding. They usually feature winding, sprawling, nonlinear plots splattered with blood, profanity, and pop culture references. His dialogue is vivid and fast-paced, his images striking and unapologetic, his narratives hyperviolent and cathartic. Tarantino's name has become synonymous with quality; his résumé includes many of modern cinema's most recognizable films, some of which have become enduring parts of American culture. With the news that Tarantino's upcoming film, The Critic, might be his last, it's time to reflect on his acclaimed career and determine which of his celebrated films reigns supreme.
10. Death Proof (2007)

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Filmmakers have been ripping off the motormouthed, jukebox-boogie style of Quentin Tarantino for so long now that the ripoffs have spawned their own ripoffs, which in turn have spawned their own ripoffs, and so on into oblivion. The latest branch of this incestual family tree of archly violent hitman comedies is Bullet Train, a hyperactive, supersized barrage of jocular kill-or-be-killed mayhem. As directed by David Leitch, folding a bunch of sixth-hand Tarantino-isms into his own identifiable John Wick schtick, the film plays like the great great great grandson of Pulp Fiction. This means that it’s also related to multiple generations of bastard offspring, straight back from Free Fire to Seven Psychopaths to Smoking Aces to some of the earliest and most idiosyncratic of the pretenders, the lads-and-cads underworld picaresques of Guy Ritchie.

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