A White, White Day
Film Movement | Release Date (Streaming): April 17, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
81
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Little White LiesTrevor JohnstonFeb 14, 2022
What’s remarkable about Hlynur Pálmason’s drama is the way its elemental settings lend everything an oneiric quality. Yet the scenes play out with a very real, visceral intensity, especially once Ingimundur uncovers an uncomfortable secret about his marriage and seeks an outlet for his anger. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloFeb 25, 2020
The film’s true power is elemental, rooted in weather conditions that all but erase the distinction between land and sky, and in the inky darkness of a tunnel traversed by one haggard, trudging figure whose weary body intermittently blocks a sliver of light barely visible at its far end. Read full review
90
The New York TimesGlenn KennyApr 16, 2020
The result is an emotionally wringing film, equally effective in the narrative and tone-poem departments. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 6, 2020
In light of my own experience with the film, I recommend the following. See it twice: a virgin viewing, simply to take in the strange counterintuitive way the story unfolds, and then again, with a bit of distance, knowing where the journey is headed, so that you might fully appreciate the genius of its construction. I’m convinced that A White, White Day is the work of one of the most important voices of this emerging generation, arriving at a stage where we have yet to learn his language. Read full review
83
The Film StageRory O'ConnorJan 24, 2020
As darkly comic as it is foreboding–and boasting an outrageously rich and nuanced central performance from the great Icelandic actor Ingvar Sigurdsson, who plays the larger than life Ingimunder, a man more than capable of living up to the scale of his own name–A White, White Day takes the tropes of a psychological thriller but presents them with a virtuosic and austere visual flare. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 13, 2020
This bizarre and sometimes scary film from Iceland has a way of keeping you off balance and on the edge of your seat. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Simran HansJul 13, 2020
The momentum really builds in the third act, but the film’s quieter moments of contemplation are its most striking. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellJul 2, 2020
A White, White Day is Ingimundur’s film through and through, centred on Sigurdsson’s intensely gruff, brooding performance. But Hlynsdóttir’s Salka gives him a run for his money. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangApr 16, 2020
To ascribe easy labels to A White, White Day — to call it a study of masculine rage or a portrait of a community perched at the edge of the world — is to risk bleeding it of its elemental poetry. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 24, 2020
Palmason boldly risks audience disenfranchisement by pushing his disturbing story to unexpected lengths dramatically and stylistically, thereby winning a creative wrestling match with a potentially intransigent narrative. Read full review
80
Screen DailyLisa NesselsonJan 24, 2020
A flesh and blood catalogue of ways to be masculine, from tender with his granddaughter to robustly no-nonsense with a weapon, Ingimundur is a fascinating character, splendidly portrayed. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 21, 2020
There’s a restrained minimalism that becomes captivating, as Ingimundur tries to work out what to do with his grief. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 17, 2020
It sometimes feels like Palmason is being a bit self-indulgent with his slow pace, but Ingvar Sigurdsson keeps the film grounded, and ends it with such a devastating, powerful final shot that it alone erases most criticisms. It may take a bit longer than it needed to get there, but the destination packs a wallop. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineCarson LundApr 14, 2020
There’s a moving study within the film of a man in emotional paralysis learning to redirect his love from the past to the present, but it’s too often obscured by a muted revenge yarn that’s no less banal because it’s tastefully directed. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 7, 2020
I didn’t fall for the surfeit of mood manipulation that opens A White, White Day. All that time-lapse stuff and its ilk is a nice contrast to the shock and action that takes over the third act. They’re just a very dull way of managing that. Read full review
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