"Absolutely brilliant."
      — Andrew Pulver, The Guardian
    
        
            
      "It's still luminous, 52 years on. [2012]"
      — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
    
        
            
      "Absolutely brilliant. It's funnier, sadder and cooler on the big screen."
      — Kim Newman, Empire
    
        
            
      "Delightful comedy romance with a clutch of note-perfect performances."
      — Simon Braud, Empire
    
        
            
      "This essential Billy Wilder film smoothly combines trenchant social observation with hilarious comedy."
      — Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
    
        
            
      "The Apartment represents Wilder at his most complete - seamlessly weaving the lighthearted and the serious without encountering a snarl or tangle."
      — James Berardinelli,  ReelViews
    
        
            
      "Wilder’s intoxicating script, co-written with IAL Diamond, flows like finest brandy, and Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine shine as two essentially good souls trapped in a tangle of office politics."
      — Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
    
        
            
      "The quintessential New York movie – with exquisite design by Alexandre Trauner and shimmering black-and-white photography – it presented something of a breakthrough in its portrayal of the war of the sexes, with a sour and cynical view of the self-deception, loneliness and cruelty involved in ‘romantic’ liaisons."
      — Time Out
    
        
            
      "Wilder’s movie manages to be a scathing social satire and cautionary tale (the corporate lingo is prescient: 'preliminarywise,' 'manpowerwise'); a brilliant physical comedy (Lemmon’s tennis-racket-spaghetti-straining skills are superb); and a devastating romance between Baxter and Miss Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine). All of which makes Wilder’s masterpiece tough to take if you’re looking for a laugh riot."
      — Ari Karpel, Entertainment Weekly