Calm with Horses (The Shadow of Violence)
Cinéart | Release Date: July 31, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageJared MobarakJul 31, 2020
The result might not be unique in its narrative about a misunderstood man devoid of the means to get out of his own way, but Calm with Horses is stunning in its execution nonetheless. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgAug 4, 2020
The Shadow of Violence has interesting things to say about violence and, ultimately, how far you would go for your family. Read full review
80
CineVueChristopher MachellJul 31, 2020
Calm with Horses’ driving concern – the corrosive nature of violence on the self – is rendered in brutal, empathic precision, while the recovery of its protagonist’s humanity as it teeters on the cliff edge is simply heartbreaking. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJul 31, 2020
Buoyed by Joe Murtagh’s screenplay, which keeps the warring elements of the narrative elegantly balanced throughout, the excellent ensemble cast create a complex emotional ecosystem through which our troubled antihero stumbles in search of his identity. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeJul 31, 2020
And as a statement of intent, it’s unequivocal: Rowland combines striking visual flair with razor-wire character studies. Read full review
80
Time OutHelen O'HaraJul 31, 2020
Lots of elements of the story feel familiar, but they play out in unusual and unpredictable ways here. We’ve seen the heavy-with-a-heart character before, but Jarvis gives Arm real pathos, even at his most violent. Read full review
75
IndieWireRyan LattanzioAug 1, 2020
Despite the claustrophobic entrapment in a violent and hyper-masculine world, The Shadow of Violence is an ultimately moving morality tale announcing a confident new voice in international cinema. Not to mention a powerful vehicle for its two leads, Jarvis and Barry Keoghan. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 27, 2020
First-time feature director Nick Rowland makes the violence in-your-face and the scenes where Arm starts to struggle with it wrenching. Dude stages a mean Irish backroads car-chase, too. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyJul 31, 2020
If the overall narrative arc is less than inspired, however, the milieu and personalities depicted do have real character. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNick AllenJul 31, 2020
The film's poetry is like the close-up of the clenched fist that Rowland uses to introduce us to his character study — there’s a thoughtfulness behind the tight fingers, maybe even a broken soul, but its expression is that of a blunt object. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 31, 2020
It’s powerfully and pugnaciously acted, and horses are brought in – as animals often are in social-realist movies – as symbols of redemptive nobility. But I felt that in narrative terms it turned into a cul-de-sac of macho violence. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJul 31, 2020
Full marks for character and setting. Less enthusiastic hurrahs for narrative arc. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichJul 31, 2020
Director Nick Rowland couldn't ask for a more magnetically tormented character to anchor his low-key-to-a-fault feature debut. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisJul 30, 2020
The movie tries to convince you that Douglas is better than his worst self and can transcend the dehumanizing degradations in which he’s mired. But not even the filmmakers seem convinced, which may explain why they embrace baroque brutality topped by a dollop of audience-mollifying sentimentality. Read full review
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