Beats
Music Box Films | Release Date (Streaming): June 26, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistWarren CantrellMay 17, 2019
Careful and deliberate character work in the script paints a striking picture of two friends who are outcasts in their little world yet still find a way to integrate into a community. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comCollin SouterJun 26, 2020
The biggest strength, of course, is Ortega and Macdonald, who have great chemistry. These two actors know exactly who these guys are and their history comes through naturally. Read full review
80
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJun 25, 2020
This tender, detail-filled movie lives for the moment. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMay 19, 2019
It’s a terrific little film that combines the earthy humour and honesty of a Shane Meadows movie with an unexpected expressionistic section – flooded with colour – that channels the boys’ joyful dancefloor abandon. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeMay 17, 2019
Beats brilliantly captures the nervy, joyful terror of turning up at a derelict warehouse equipped with a soundsystem and woefully inadequate toilet facilities. And it’s a testament, too, to the uncomplicated platonic love between two lads who both know, deep down, that they are too flakey to stay in contact. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterNeil YoungMay 17, 2019
An infectiously enjoyable slice of knockabout nostalgia that wears its Trainspotting heritage proudly on its rough-edged tartan sleeve. Read full review
80
Time OutAlex GodfreyMay 17, 2019
It’s absolutely a period piece (heightened by being in black and white), but its humanity is ageless, serving up an irresistible amount of thrills, spills and jaw-aches. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinMay 17, 2019
Beats is a truly heartfelt rites-of-passage tale — an immersive, intoxicating portrayal of the rave scene at its peak. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 27, 2020
While even the movie’s best moments are derivative enough to deserve that kind of mix-and-match categorization, Welsh shoots the whole thing with such a knowing sense of time and place that its age-old story of revolt can feel like it’s happening for the very first time — like it’s now or never, and there’ll be no going back once the sun comes up. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonJun 25, 2020
The movie is predictable at times, but also winning, with a thumping soundtrack and smartly written characters. Ortega, with his Peter-from-“Office Space”-deer-in-the-headlights look, is the movie’s appealing center. Read full review
75
Film ThreatTiffany TchobanianMay 17, 2019
Welsh’s intentions are clear and his passion is palpable. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeMay 17, 2019
Beats proceeds to give a dying scene its euphoric due, in a dazzling digression from stage-based form. Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillMay 17, 2019
Compared with Mia Hansen-Løve’s resonant French house drama Eden, or Michael Winterbottom’s kaleidoscopic 24 Hour Party People, these beats sound tinny. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJun 25, 2020
Beats catches the misery and desperation that powered rave culture and the era of DayGlo shell suits. The disappointment is that the Welsh strips all the color out of Hurley's vibrant play, which he originally staged with a live DJ accompaniment. Read full review
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