While filming a difficult, graphic sex scene for an arthouse film, Juliette and Eric, the two actors involved, begin an off-screen affair. The director, Sam, becomes jealous of their relationship, complicating his working relationship with them.
Metacritic, a review aggregator, rated the film 36/100 based on four reviews.[2] Joe Weissberg of Variety wrote, "Future art historians may use Joe Swanberg's latest to illustrate the paucity of ideas and means in the 2010s."[3]Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times called the premise "tediously obvious".[4] Michelle Orange of The Village Voice complimented the lighting and mood, which she said do not make up for the lack of story or character development.[5]
Richard Brody of The New Yorker wrote that detractors who compare it to Ingmar Bergman's Persona miss the point, though Brody says Swanberg's images are "of a kind" to those Bergman shot in the 1950s and 1960s.[6] Erik Kohn of Indiewire described it as "essentially Swanberg's version of Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and, within the larger context of his career, just as inconsequential".[7] Jesse Cataldo of Slant Magazine rated it 3/4 stars and wrote, "Art History stands out as one of his most visually and conceptually accomplished experiments."[8] Christopher Bourne of Twitch Film called it "a complex and unsettling examination of the creative process" and its psychological pressures.[9]
