Armageddon Time

Name: Armageddon Time
Genre: Drama
Released: October 28, 2022
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Andrew Polk, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Dane West, Domenick Lombardozzi

2022

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 54 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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Armageddon Time

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Movie Details & Credits

Focus Features | Release Date: October 28, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Andrew Polk, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Dane West, Domenick Lombardozzi, Jaylin Webb, Jeremy Strong, Marcia Haufrecht, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Michael Banks Repeta, Richard Bekins, Ryan Sell, Teddy Coluca, Tovah Feldshuh

Movie Facts:

Expands nationwide on November 4, 2022.

Summary: Armageddon Time is a deeply personal story on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream.

Director: James Gray

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 115 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Bilge Ebiri

Oct 28, 2022

By letting the picture embody his failures — by turning Armageddon Time into a self-aware look at his own limitations — the director makes that necessary connection between then and now, between the characters onscreen and us watching. In other words, he denies us the one thing these types of movies almost always provide: reassurance. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

May 19, 2022

A nuanced exploration of situational ethics tinged with guilt, it's a small, near-perfect New York story. Read full review

Lindsey Bahr

Oct 27, 2022

Gray does a wonderful job painting a portrait of a moment of cultural upheaval through these two boys, their opportunities, their support systems (or lack thereof) and how it was an origin of sorts for the rot that festers today. Read full review

Lou Thomas

May 20, 2022

It describes itself as ‘a coming-of-age story that explores friendship and loyalty while America is poised to elect Ronald Reagan as President’. Considering that’s exactly when Gray himself was going from child to teen, this sounds like it could be his most personal film yet. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Nov 2, 2022

Armageddon Time is a pungent, disarmingly honest evocation of love and loyalty, striving and struggle, and how identity morphs from one generation to the next. In revisiting his own coming of age, Gray has managed to illuminate a much larger one that hasn’t stopped. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Nov 3, 2022

As Armageddon Time proceeded, I became increasingly uncomfortable with the way Johnny’s story only served to stoke Paul’s (and the movie’s) moral consciousness—to be ground zero for the film’s white guilt. Yes, in some ways Johnny is a supporting character much like any other, serving a particular purpose in the narrative. But the racial realities add a significant wrinkle. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Oct 31, 2022

Going into Armageddon Time, I had no interest in James Gray’s childhood. But that was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was to have even less interest going out. Read full review

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User Reviews

Qhasi

Nov 23, 2022

I dare say this is an Oscar contender. I was transfixed the whole time. The final fifteen minutes really sealed the film perfectly.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Dilary

Jan 1, 2023

2022 es una película muy buena, buen trabajo los del cast, increíble, es muy buena película

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

everett

Jan 9, 2023

This is a gem. Without a bombastic score to tell us how to feel, we are moved on our own, because of a well-written script and performances that make the most of the characters they've been gifted with. The very young protagonist is phenomenal. He has to carry this film and does it withThis is a gem. Without a bombastic score to tell us how to feel, we are moved on our own, because of a well-written script and performances that make the most of the characters they've been gifted with. The very young protagonist is phenomenal. He has to carry this film and does it with astonishing effortlessness; he WAS this kid. The rest are perfectly cast. I found this movie quietly powerful, and it will stay with me, not only because it captures these people, this family, but because of its wider implications for the world, with its bigotries that go on and on, generation after generation.
There's only so much one person can do. But if wisdom is available - as it is here, embodied by Anthony Hopkins' character - then there's hope for people like the boy's complicated dad, and for us all.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

TVJerry

Nov 7, 2022

Since the central character is a 12-year-old boy, you might think this film is aimed at kids, but the subject (while appropriate and timely) is approached as an adult experience. Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong play the parents of a feisty 6th grader (Banks Repeta) in 80s Queens. His dreamsSince the central character is a 12-year-old boy, you might think this film is aimed at kids, but the subject (while appropriate and timely) is approached as an adult experience. Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong play the parents of a feisty 6th grader (Banks Repeta) in 80s Queens. His dreams of being an artist are challenged by his working class family's values and unfriendly school experiences. His main solace is his grandfather (Anthony Hopkins), who offers him life lessons, especially dealing with their own Jewish heritage and coping with conflict, sometimes around race. Repeta creates a charming, spirited character and the rest of the cast is strong. Writer/director James Gray has revisited his own youth in this understated, mildly sweet and easily forgettable drama about morality and family.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JLuis_001

Nov 18, 2022

With the knowledge that this coming-of-age story is based on its director's own experiences, Armageddon Time plays a dangerous game when it over-embellishes things for the sake of enhancing its work. Of course, it's completely understandable why that would happen in a drama that'sWith the knowledge that this coming-of-age story is based on its director's own experiences, Armageddon Time plays a dangerous game when it over-embellishes things for the sake of enhancing its work. Of course, it's completely understandable why that would happen in a drama that's constructed that way, but even with the honesty of what it wants to tell, you obviously stop believing much of what you're seeing as the experiences of a child because they just don't feel realistic, even when you are fully aware that you are watching a movie. It has good intentions, I know that, but it becomes complicated to connect with the experience.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Brent_Marchant

Jan 10, 2023

To be perfectly honest, I was at a loss to understand exactly what writer-director James Gray was going for in this coming of age story. Set in New York in 1980, the film follows the exploits of an ill-behaved Jewish sixth-grader (Banks Repeta) who shows promise as an aspiring artist butTo be perfectly honest, I was at a loss to understand exactly what writer-director James Gray was going for in this coming of age story. Set in New York in 1980, the film follows the exploits of an ill-behaved Jewish sixth-grader (Banks Repeta) who shows promise as an aspiring artist but operates below his potential, particularly when he engages in largely inexplicable pranks and mischief with his African-American best friend (Jaylin Webb), much to the dismay of his parents (Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong). In fact, the only one who seems to be able to connect with the young man is his wise old grandfather (Anthony Hopkins), a relationship that seems implausible given the protagonist’s behavioral track record. But that primary story thread is often muddled by a clumsily handled array of other plotlines and narrative themes related to racial and class privilege, parental abuse and complacency, antisemitism, and a problematic educational system, as well as occasional fantasy sequences. To make matters worse, the camera work is generally far too dark throughout the film, taking its gloomy atmospheric quality to an overwrought, heavy-handed extreme. Collectively, all of these elements are essentially designed to convey the message that “life sometimes isn’t fair” (now there’s a profound revelation for you), one that the filmmaker appears to be trying to tie to the picture’s time frame at the onset of the Reagan Era. This combination makes for a rather disappointing, underwhelming cinematic offering, despite a trailer and marketing materials that appear to promise viewers more. In all fairness, the picture features several fine performances (most notably Hopkins, Hathaway, Webb and a brief walk-on appearance by Jessica Chastain), but the film’s lead is played by a young, largely inexperienced actor who’s simply not up to the part (and is often as annoying to viewers as he is to his character’s parents). That uninspired portrayal undoubtedly is undermined by the film’s meandering screenplay and uneven, often-half-baked character development (as seen by Strong’s scattered father figure performance). Whatever the filmmaker was trying to say in this seriously unfocused tale is, sadly, likely to leave audiences as perplexed as its adolescent protagonist. Indeed, if anybody out there can clarify this for me, please let me know.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Jwhite7

Nov 4, 2022

Extremely slow, yet topical. It tries hard to make a significant point regarding Critical Race Theory but it would have been better as a documentary. The documentary would have had better dialogue, humor, and acting, and would have been much more intriguing. Just because something hasExtremely slow, yet topical. It tries hard to make a significant point regarding Critical Race Theory but it would have been better as a documentary. The documentary would have had better dialogue, humor, and acting, and would have been much more intriguing. Just because something has important and truthful subject matter doesn't make it a good movie. Watching the popcorn pop before I entered the theatre was much more entertaining.… Expand

2 of 10 users found this helpful28

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