Ben Is Back
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: December 7, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansMar 18, 2019
The material feels more like a play than a film, its drama shrunk down into a single, digestible day, but it’s affecting in its muted seriousness. Read full review
60
EmpireLiz BeardsworthMar 11, 2019
Ben Is Back begins with nuance but is let down by its familiar Drugs Are Hell tropes. Still, the pairing of the ever-excellent Roberts and Hedges keep it a largely compelling watch. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 27, 2018
Ben Is Back has seriousness in mind, but too much showmanship in the making. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangDec 6, 2018
By the end of this clumsy, audacious story — the title of which turns out to have a doozy of a double meaning — Ben will be stripped of every last secret and falsehood, left with no more room to run or hide. You believe him at long last, even if believing the movie is a trickier proposition. Read full review
50
Washington PostMark JenkinsDec 11, 2018
The tight time frame gives the movie a welcome urgency, but it doesn’t prevent its second half from becoming lurid and melodramatic. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Dec 6, 2018
Ben Is Back, which buries its promise, premise, and stray traces of insight under a heap of narrative contrivance, leaves you itching for a drama with something solid to actually say about addiction. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePaul O'CallaghanDec 3, 2018
As the film hurtles toward its tense climax, you may find yourself both deeply resenting its narrative contrivances and passionately rooting for its protagonists. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekNov 30, 2018
The movie is so assertively about the social issue at its heart – the way opioid addiction tears families apart – that it barely leaves room for its characters to breathe. At times it feels more as if they’re spokespeople with jobs to do. That takes its toll on both lead actors, especially Roberts: one minute she’s Denial Mom, the next she’s Tough Love Mom. Read full review
40
CineVueChristopher MachellMar 18, 2019
Aside from its unremarkable presentation, Ben Is Back’s major hurdle, and the one that it never manages to clear, is that it’s yet another story of a rich, white young man wasting his future. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMar 14, 2019
The whole is rather less than its constituent parts – which didn’t really fit together in the first place. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 12, 2018
There are good intentions and good performances here, but they’re squandered in a movie that isn’t quite sure what it should be and how far it should go. Read full review
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