Barely Lethal | Rotten Tomatoes

Barely Lethal

PG-13

Released May 29, 2015

1h 36m

Action

Comedy

List

26%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

38%

Audience Score

2,500+ Ratings

Seeking a normal adolescence, a special-operations agent (Hailee Steinfeld) fakes her own death and enrolls in high school as an exchange student.

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Critics Consensus

Just like its underserved protagonist, Barely Lethal is in disguise -- it wants you to think it's smarter than it is but it fails by falling prey to all the clichés it mocks.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

From the grisly punning title to the low-rent action sequences, this really is less fun than double maths.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 30, 2015

Full Review

Geoffrey Macnab

Independent (UK)

[A] bubbly but very lightweight high-school comedy.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 28, 2015

Full Review

Kim Newman

Empire Magazine

Hardly groundbreaking but this high-school actioner ghosts by on its charm and sense of fun.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 27, 2015

Full Review

Stephen O'Nion

One Room With A View

Attempts to subvert some of the standard tropes never really come off and it's light on laughs...

Rated: 2/5

May 4, 2019

Full Review

David Sugarman

CineVue

The great set-up could, and really should, have delivered a better movie than it did, but while it's unlikely to be remembered alongside the films it delights in name-checking, there's enjoyment to be had.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 6, 2019

Full Review

Lisa Twang

The New Paper (Singapore)

It is not nearly as intelligent as Mean Girls, but the ass-kicking is still fun to watch.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 20, 2017

Full Review

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Yash B

"Barely Lethal" attempts to blend a spy movie with a high school comedy and it excels at neither. The movie has a few funny situations and moments, but it is mostly a flat one that is worse than a lot of the movies it is making fun of. I felt like the movie actually had a decent concept and premise but fails to do anything new or innovative with it. I think the actors in the movie are capable of much better than what they had to work with here so a bad story isn't really their fault. Overall, the movie is forgettable and completely skippable because there are plenty of fish-out-of-water high school comedies out there that are far more entertaining.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/16/23

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steve d

It is fun enough but not especially original.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This nearly unrecognizable A24 release actually had a pretty fun concept and a competent lead in Hailee Steinfeld but unfortunately leaned way too hard into the teen movie cliches. I did laugh some but this could have been way more up my alley with an R rating and far less of the high school romantic drama. 4.5/10 Samuel L. Jackson Binge: Jackson had a well tailored role here running a top secret government program aiming to turn children into spies and only wish we could have seen more of him at work. *SLJ January #20

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is dumb as hell but it has Hailee Steinfeld, Sophie Turner, and a Steve-O cameo. I had goofy fun with it. Sue me.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Es divertida, pero no es una película que volvería a ver, me reí pero se me hizo innecesaria pero ame las actuaciones

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Garbage preteen movie that you can't take seriously. Another money grab and name drop for Samuel L. Jackson.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Kyle Newman

Director

Hailee Steinfeld

Megan Walsh

Jessica Alba

Victoria Knox

Samuel L. Jackson

Hardman

Sophie Turner

Heather

Dove Cameron

Liz Larson

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35%

Masterminds

TRAILER

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8%

35%

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6%

49%

So Undercover

2%

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One for the Money

4%

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Synopsis

Seeking a normal adolescence, a special-operations agent (Hailee Steinfeld) fakes her own death and enrolls in high school as an exchange student.

Director: Kyle Newman
Producer: Brett Ratner, John Cheng, Sukee Chew, Vanessa Coifman, Ted Hartley
Screenwriter: John D'Arco
Distributor: A24
Production Co: RKO Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Drug References|Sexual Material|Some Action Violence|Teen Drinking)
Genre: Action, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 29, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 36m

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