A Gray State
First Run Features | Release Date: November 3, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenNov 22, 2017
A Gray State disturbingly traverses the blurred boundary between reality and performance all too inherent in today’s social media-fed climate of cultural narcissism. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaNov 9, 2017
It’s intermittently successful, but even in its more meandering moments it is a gripping, almost unbearably dark watch. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 1, 2017
Friends, family, and reporters offer invaluable insight in interviews, making this the somewhat rare documentary that’s actually as illuminating as good print reporting on the same case. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 29, 2017
The film makes its case methodically and persuasively. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAnthony KaufmanApr 29, 2017
Everyone loves a conspiracy—which is one of the reasons that A Gray State, a tantalising and fascinating real-life story, makes for compelling viewing. But it’s also supremely timely. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireNov 3, 2017
A Gray State captures much of this in one real-life tale that’s as unsettling as it is precisely of-the-moment. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichNov 2, 2017
Clear enough about what happened to be ambiguous about what it means, the film makes only one clean argument: Truth isn’t always stranger than fiction, but it’s often a hell of a lot sadder. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChuck BowenNov 2, 2017
Erik Nelson's film straddles a fine and admirable line between lurid sensationalism and sober humanism. Read full review
75
The PlaylistChris BarsantiApr 29, 2017
Excepting a strangely off-key final scene, A Gray State is a compelling, highly dramatic piece of documentary filmmaking. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 27, 2017
Tell me you don’t see echoes of “A Beautiful Mind.” Nelson lets us see Crowley’s fleeting dream of filmmaking glory, this ache to tell a story he believed in above all else, consume him. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergNov 2, 2017
There’s a morbid fascination inherent to documentaries like A Gray State, which is engrossing for the reasons it’s also unsatisfying: As Adam Shambour, a friend of Mr. Crowley’s, says, it’s a mystery that answers all the major questions except “Why?” Read full review
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