Crown Heights
IFC Films | Release Date: August 18, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenSep 6, 2017
What Warner undergoes in Crown Heights is difficult to watch. Yet in the end, remarkably. there is triumph. And, finally, justice. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranAug 24, 2017
Acted with gravity, emotion and a sense of the serious issues involved by stars Lakeith Stanfield, Nnamdi Asomugha and Natalie Paul, Crown Heights deals with the intensely human factors tragic events bring into play — perseverance and despair, love and longing. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonSep 7, 2017
Based on a true story, Crown Heights is a predictable but moving story of friendship and perseverance. Writer-director Matt Ruskin elicits strong performances that go a long way toward compensating for the film’s often languid pace. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 31, 2017
As compelling as Warner’s story is, Crown Heights never quite takes hold cinematically. It’s a procedural whose central protagonist remains necessarily passive and something of a cipher, despite the wellsprings of emotion that Stanfield manages to tap simply by gazing balefully out a cell window. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 31, 2017
When the actors get their chances, Crown Heights rises above the routine. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubAug 30, 2017
Crown Heights is a challenging film with long treks between uplifting moments. And there’s no question the film earns every moment of grace. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzAug 18, 2017
Stanfield is a true movie star, radiating decency even as the character's shell hardens. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaAug 17, 2017
We’re left floored by the facts of Colin Warner’s case; the film itself falls away. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 17, 2017
Like its protagonist, sensitively and shrewdly played by Lakeith Stanfield, the film is soft-spoken and thoughtful, with sweet, lyrical touches that alleviate some of the grimness without blunting the cruelty and injustice of what happened. Read full review
70
Village VoiceBilge EbiriAug 14, 2017
As Colin, Stanfield is exceptional, his visage a mixture of bewilderment, humiliation, and simmering rage. His performance grounds the film, and keeps it going through its less confident patches. Read full review
70
VarietyAndrew BarkerJan 27, 2017
Crown Heights doesn’t break much new ground, and it takes a while to find its footing, but thanks to strong, unshowy performances from Lakeith Stanfield and Nnamdi Asomugha, the film does project the feelings of helplessness and frustration that come from fighting against such an immovable object. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 7, 2017
Strong central performances make this harrowing chronicle a gripping tale. Read full review
67
The Film StageDan MeccaAug 14, 2017
As written and directed by Matt Ruskin, the tragic story of Colin Warner doesn’t so much come to life on the screen as it is responsibly recalled in Crown Heights, aided by effective performances and some streamlined storytelling. Read full review
63
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonAug 30, 2017
It’s a quietly inspiring portrait of selflessness, although not always a stirring one. The movie has a muted tone that tamps down emotions, and the acting is intentionally low-key throughout. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyAug 30, 2017
The film has two big things going for it: Stanfield and Asomugha. Their characters could easily become capital-letter caricatures — Victim, Loyal Friend — but the actors give Warner and King a sense of personality, and deeply felt hurt, that stays with you. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeAug 24, 2017
It’s an earnest rather then energetic retelling but Stanfield’s stare is indelible. Read full review
60
Village VoiceDanny KingAug 23, 2017
Most of Crown Heights, which is based on an episode of public radio’s This American Life, suffers from structural confusion. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 27, 2017
Perhaps cowed by respect for a real man who suffered so much, Stanfield seems reluctant to charm viewers. Warner is sympathetic, of course, but Ruskin continually requires wounded earnestness from his lead, and shows little of whatever spark of inner life must have been required for Warner to survive these years without losing his mind. Read full review
58
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 27, 2017
Crown Heights works best when the political and the personal merge with the insidious nature of corruption and systemic cultural, societal and economic oppression. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghSep 7, 2017
Crown Heights is soul-shaking only in the abstract. In execution, it’s deathly dull. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 30, 2017
As righteous as it is, Crown Heights fritters away goodwill normally built by intimate, revealing performances, sacrificing clarity for under-explained bulk examples of injustice, and exhausting its sense of outrage in the process. Read full review
50
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonAug 24, 2017
As a Big Message movie about the racism inherent in the criminal justice system, Crown Heights succeeds admirably enough. As an effective drama, however, the film is frustrating in its unwillingness to engage with its characters beyond its broader strokes. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaAug 13, 2017
The film plays like a human-interest story in which all of the humanity has been gutted in favor of deadening narrative efficiency. Read full review
50
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJan 27, 2017
There’s no denying that the tale of Colin Warner, a man who spent decades behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, is a powerful one, but writer-director Matt Ruskin doesn’t give us anything here that a documentary couldn’t do better. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 27, 2017
Despite the efforts of its cast, Crown Heights is too crammed and hectic to convey the immensity of the systemic evils that run through its ruptured heart. Read full review
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