The Loneliest Boy in the World had its world premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 13 August 2022.[4][5] It was also screened as the opening film of the 2022 edition of Manchester's Grimmfest film festival on 6 October.[6] The film was released by Well Go USA Entertainment in select theatres in the United States on 14 October 2022, on demand and on digital on 18 October,[7][8][9] and on DVD and Blu-ray on 20 December.[10]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10.[11]
Preston Barta of the Denton Record-Chronicle gave the film a positive review and wrote, "It's a lovable cinematic Frankenstein of '80s movies and television that's peppered with exciting camera tricks and dazzling production design".[12]
Rich Cross of Starburst gave the film a negative review: "The result is a surreal tale that aims to blend the corpse comedy of Weekend at Bernie's with the macabre motifs of a Tim Burton fantasy, but which ends up strangely devoid of life."[13]
Chad Collins of Dread Central awarded the film two stars out of five and wrote, "The Loneliest Boy in the World is a pastel zombie throwback of sitcom terror whose innate wholesomeness can't compensate for the sense that these undead themes have walked a hundred times before."[14]
Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com awarded the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The film relies too heavily on cliche and hopes the audience won't notice."[15]
Fred Topel of United Press International gave the film a positive review, calling it "a quirky horror comedy. It has plenty of gore and violence for horror hounds, but also a surrealist heart."[16]
Simon Abrams of TheWrap gave the film a negative review and wrote, "The gags in The Loneliest Boy in the World also tend to be so broad and lazy that it's hard to imagine how this movie's retro-bait sensibility will appeal to anyone other than the targets of this poisoned-apple crowdpleaser's toothless criticism."[17]
Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting awarded the film three skulls out of five and wrote, "It's a simple yet charming story that uses the sitcom format to satirize the nuclear family while offering the protagonist a chance for growth through escapism. The cute zombie comedy makes for an on-the-nose means of coping with death".[18]
