A Prayer Before Dawn
A24 | Release Date: August 10, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireAndrew LowryJul 23, 2018
For all the flying fists and the hero’s nightmarish predicament, the notions of redemption examined here are plenty deep. Add that to the bone-crunchingly effective technique and flawless lead performance, and you have yourself something very rare: a testosterone-driven narrative that’s about nurturing, rather than destruction. And one that achieves a bleeding-knuckled profundity. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 17, 2018
So there you have it. A Prayer Before Dawn: Fine entertainment. Fine teaching tool. Read full review
90
Village VoiceChuck WilsonAug 9, 2018
A Prayer Before Dawn feels scarily authentic, and may be too much for some. But there are moments of grace amid the setting’s despair. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 9, 2018
Mr. Sauvaire’s approach may not be for everyone, but his skill and audacity are invigorating — and, strangely, liberating. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAug 9, 2018
It’s a haunting and masterful effort, but be warned: This is tough stuff. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie Felperin
Prayer dwells with almost swooning rapture on the bodies of young men as they mete out brutal violence on one another, and features a cast composed mostly of unknowns, impressively coached in order to deliver arresting turns onscreen. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala Halligan
Cole, best known for a supporting role in the TV series Peaky Blinders, gives everything to this role. It’s a physical transformation in which he convincingly plays a beaten, battered-to-a-pulp boxer who learns the rules of Muay Thai, but also a deep internal reach to deliver a complex, defiantly self-sabotaging character with depth of understanding. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy Lodge
At once exhausting and astonishing, this no-holds-barred adaptation of British junkie-turned-pugilist Billy Moore’s Thai prison memoir is a big, bleeding feat of extreme cinema, given elevating human dimension by rising star Joe Cole’s ferociously physical lead performance. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 10, 2018
This movie is a remarkable feat that requires a strong stomach to sit through. I was unaware, prior to seeing it, that it’s based on a true story, and the movie’s coda was that much more powerful for me as a result. Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 9, 2018
Even as the story builds to a final mano a mano, the movie is less invested in a win-or-lose outcome than in taking you along for the ride. Read full review
70
Film Journal InternationalGary M. KramerAug 9, 2018
Credit director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and Cole for an impressive achievement that takes viewers on an intense journey. Read full review
67
ConsequenceRandall ColburnAug 8, 2018
What makes A Prayer Before Dawn so powerful is also what makes it so punishing. Read full review
67
IndieWireBen Croll
Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s film is not so much the story of a fighter as it is a story that wants to fight you. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChuck BowenAug 7, 2018
A Prayer Before Dawn is concerned above all with ensuring that we share its main character's sense of dislocation and entrapment. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 13, 2018
It’s not a reinvention of the genre, but it is a fairly engrossing variation on a theme. And that’s in large part due to the violence — sexual and otherwise — it recreates. Read full review
60
The GuardianXan Brooks
No one would accuse it of breaking new ground, or finding fascinating new paths across its well-worn prison yard. But Sauvaire’s drama is lean and trim and unwavering in its task. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloAug 8, 2018
Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) makes some audacious, impressionistic choices, focusing on the nexus of sensual and brutal, but this is the rare true story that really could have used some creative embellishment. Read full review
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