Chronic
Monument Releasing | Release Date: September 23, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenSep 22, 2016
Chronic ends with a sudden, terrible slap in the face that is a final blow to your equilibrium. It is left up to the viewer to decide whether it is a cheap stunt or an ultimate moment of truth. I vote for the latter. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinSep 29, 2016
For a drama that’s as quiet and circumspect as Chronic, it’s a decidedly bold film, one that pulls few punches as it slowly peels away the emotional layers of its complex protagonist. t also features an ending that’s as devastating as it is shocking. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonGuy LodgeFeb 15, 2016
Franco’s script teases out the character’s tangled ambiguities with immaculate control: even as the story proceeds in the lowest of keys, our nerves never settle. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 24, 2015
Tim Roth is excellent as David: impassive and enigmatic, withholding the truth about himself, but radiating in repose a sadness and a swallowed pain. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 24, 2015
Tim Roth gives a meticulously withdrawn performance that speaks volumes, and although filmmaker Michel Franco can be too fussy in his starkly somber design, Chronic is nonetheless a captivating work. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennySep 23, 2016
Tim Roth gives a career-high performance in this meticulous, disturbing film written and directed by Michel Franco. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 22, 2016
This quiet, difficult little movie — so stubbornly opaque that its torpedo of a last shot almost makes it feel as though Franco has been trolling us the whole time — is the rare film that has the courage to stomach the reality of life after death. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredDavid JamesSep 22, 2016
Roth’s solid performance and Franco’s confident direction dovetail neatly into a film that knows what it wants to communicate and how to achieve it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 24, 2015
While Chronic is a depressing sit, it's a sobering window into the self-sacrifice and psychological strain of the caregiver, as well as a provocative contribution to the ongoing debate about humane assisted suicide. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 24, 2015
Chronic may be a demanding movie to watch, but it’s also one with enormous potential for audiences to personalize, expanding in the hours and days that follow. Read full review
67
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonMay 26, 2015
It's a stinker of an ending tacked on to a disappointing third act (which is at least lifted up by Bartlett's performance), and it's a shame because so much of what went on before was so good: a tender, unsentimental, unexploitative look at an existence that all too many people have, and what it is to be someone who looks after them. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAbbey BenderSep 22, 2016
Chronic forces viewers to look closely at things they might rather ignore, and intentionally holds its emotions at a distance. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 24, 2015
An unnecessarily loud ending is an unwelcome jolt that will likely divide audiences down the middle, but Chronic is an otherwise unique character study of endearing depth. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloSep 21, 2016
When Chronic premiered at Cannes in 2015 (where it unexpectedly won Best Screenplay), one tweet waggishly retitled it Caring Is Creepy, and it really does play, for better and worse, like a lengthy exploration of that Shins song’s thesis. Read full review
50
The Film StageDaniel SchindelSep 22, 2016
Roth interacts well with Michael Cristofer and Robin Bartlett, who play David’s two primary patients in the story. But outside of their performances and Franco’s ever-tasteful approach to the subject matter, Chronic is frustrated either by convention or its own coldness. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChristopher GraySep 19, 2016
A dour and withholding character study, Michel Franco's film invites more questions than it’s willing to answer. Read full review
40
SlateKaty WaldmanSep 22, 2016
At 93 minutes, Chronic felt unbearable to sit through, at once intimate and difficult, boring and acute. Its tone aspires to the numbness of a limb pinned for too long under a heavy weight. Read full review
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