All Day and a Night
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattMay 4, 2020
A nervy, deeply felt drama that gets a little lost on its winding path to redemption but still finds a way home. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMay 2, 2020
The film, starring Ashton Sanders (“Moonlight”) as a rapper wannabe, hustler/mob-soldier in training, doesn’t show us much that we haven’t seen before. Maybe a little more back-story, a few extra pieces in the “motivation/how we got here” puzzle, all set to a sing-along gangsta rap (mostly) soundtrack. It’s depressingly over-familiar, or at least generic. Read full review
75
TheWrapSteve PondMay 1, 2020
As Jahkor resists his father and then begins to make a tentative connection, Sanders and Wright let us feel the weight of generations — and All Day and a Night, which began in a blast of gunfire, ends as a sad but touching lament. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 1, 2020
The beats of this story are easy enough to recognize, which is not to say that they’re formulaic. Sanders’ quietly mesmerizing performance refuses to let anyone cast Jahkor as either victim or villain, instead locating a tricky middle ground. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 1, 2020
Measured and somber, with few surprises. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 1, 2020
This is a grim, at times lurid tale with hard observations about growing up poor, Black, and male in America — about the cycles of defeat that can land multiple generations in prison — and many of the details have the sting of the rap songs that permeate the soundtrack. Elsewhere, however, All Day and a Night plays like an urban crime thriller made with more earnestness than style. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonMay 1, 2020
There is not a single original idea in All Day and A Night. Not one solitary surprise is to be had here. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMay 1, 2020
All Day and a Night is a weightier alternative to the average Netflix original and while imperfectly realised and scrappily plotted at times, it’s another promising sign that, away from the easy-to-digest content, there’s room on the platform for much much more. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLovia GyarkyeMay 1, 2020
Choice, for many, is an illusion. This message repeats itself throughout the film, and while at times it feels clumsy, it is never tedious. Sanders especially shines among a formidable cast, and in his portrayal, excellently reflects on the herculean task his character faces. Read full review
75
ObserverOliver JonesMay 1, 2020
Cole’s overarching theme of time drifting, folding inward and ultimately dooming the fathers, sons, mothers and daughters of All Day and a Night is hugely aided by the manner in which he frames these ideas visually. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 30, 2020
All Day and a Night is made with empathy and skill, but it’s as clear-eyed and remorseless as a news report. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 30, 2020
All Day and a Night offers renewed hope for Wright acolytes, all while reaffirming a new star in Sanders. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyApr 30, 2020
Saddled with an excess of voiceover and a shuffled flashback structure that keep the characters at an emotional distance, All Day and a Night feels familiar in both its bleakness and its ultimate offering of hope. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichApr 30, 2020
There’s a fine line between resilience and false hope, and All Day and a Night walks it with purpose even when it’s tripping over itself. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeApr 30, 2020
Cole had a key part in one of the biggest game-changers in Black cinema this decade: a co-writing credit on Black Panther. But where that film was expansive and forward-thinking, this one feels like a throwback—and not in a good way. Read full review
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