Movie · 2022 · Crime, Mystery, Thriller · 2h 57m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 8.2/10 (4.8M ratings)
Unmask the truth.
Overview
In his second year of fighting crime, Batman uncovers corruption in Gotham City that connects to his own family while facing a serial killer known as the Riddler.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.2/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 4.02/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 85%
Metacritic: 72
TMDB: 7.7/10
Director
Matt Reeves
Production
6th & Idaho Motion Picture Company, Dylan Clark Productions, DC Films, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Gil Perez-Abraham, Peter McDonald, Con O'Neill, Alex Ferns, Rupert Penry-Jones, Kosha Engler, Archie Barnes, Janine Harouni, Hana Hrzic, Joseph Walker
Where to watch
tru TV, Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody, rain-soaked detective take on Batman that leans hard into noir atmosphere, procedural clue-hunting, and psychological damage. It’s less about spectacle than obsession, corruption, and a bruised hero learning how to be a symbol.
Best for
fans of noir-tinged superhero films
viewers who like slow-burn investigations and serial-killer mysteries
people drawn to gothic cityscapes and heavy atmosphere
audiences who prefer a haunted, introverted hero over quippy action
Skip if
you want a fast, joke-heavy comic-book movie
you dislike long runtimes and deliberate pacing
you need a bright, crowd-pleasing superhero tone
you prefer clean, straightforward plotting over layered corruption and mood
Overview
The Batman works best when it treats Gotham like a crime-ridden fever dream and Bruce Wayne like a man too damaged to function anywhere except inside his own obsession. Reeves builds a detective story first, superhero movie second, and that choice gives the film a grimy, procedural pulse that feels closer to noir and serial-killer thrillers than to most modern comic-book blockbusters.
Worth noting
Robert Pattinson’s version is all posture, surveillance, and private misery, which makes the character feel genuinely unstable in a way that fits the story’s themes of inherited rot and public performance. The film’s strongest stretches are the clue-chasing sequences, the interrogations, and the way every reveal seems to deepen Gotham’s sense of decay rather than clean anything up.
Bottom line
It is not especially nimble, and its seriousness can tip into self-importance, but the commitment to mood, texture, and moral ugliness is undeniable. If you want Batman as a gothic detective story with real atmosphere and a strong sense of place, this is one of the most distinctive entries in the franchise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Nick (4★) · 55022 likes
I just love how fucking disgusting Bruce looks in this. Nasty ass stringy ass translucently pale goth boy in his dank disgusting batcave hunched over his computer with bloodshot eyes and black eye paint scrolling through footage of the previous night and journaling his fucked up thoughts. When he finally emerges from the cave to talk to Alfred and gets disturbed by the natural sunlight and has to put on sunglasses I wanted to get up and cheer. Yeah that’s right put on those sunglasses you little freak. Also he’s definitely a virgin based on how he composes himself around Catwoman. Fucking fantastic movie
Patrick Willems (4★) · 34834 likes
There’s a lot of talk about how this is the sexiest Batman or the most emo Batman. What’s more important is that this is finally a Batman who sits down and looks for clues in a big stack of dusty old files
matt lynch (4★) · 26307 likes
The movie version of the "men will literally X instead of going to therapy" meme.
Spotless (4.5★) · 23937 likes
Never in my life I would’ve thought Batman fighting against a redditor and it’s community would be one of the best superhero movies.
2000 · Mystery, Thriller · 1h 53m · R · Curator 9.1/10 (3.2M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
For the fractured identity, compulsive investigation, and the sense of a mind trapped inside its own case.