Dark Horse
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 6, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisMay 25, 2016
While the underdog element of this tale is emotionally gratifying, it’s the humanity on unadorned display here that will move you beyond words. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJun 23, 2016
Veteran documentary-maker Louise Osmond directs with flair. She gives us just enough of the history of Blackwood to show what Dream Alliance means to the place, and she gets us inside the horse’s head. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 2, 2016
The British documentary Dark Horse is a delightful story well told — and, like so many good stories, it begins with a dream. Read full review
88
Washington PostStephanie MerryMay 12, 2016
Dark Horse is earnest, sweet and told with sentimentality, featuring shots of horses frolicking in fields set against beautiful string music by Anne Nikitin. Surprisingly, the effect isn’t melodramatic or overbearing, but disarming and endearing. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireMay 6, 2016
It almost cries out to be a Mike Leigh film starring Jim Broadbent and other members of the director’s stock company. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandMay 7, 2016
It's a true winner and a genuine crowdpleaser, a human story told well through one incredible animal. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 6, 2016
A slight but winning documentary. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayMay 4, 2016
For the many, many viewers who’ve never heard of Dream Alliance, Osmond’s documentary is edge-of-the-seat stuff. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 19, 2016
Osmond may tell the story to wring maximum emotion out of the audience, but so what? Isn’t that why people make these movies? It is. And more importantly, it’s why people watch them. Read full review
80
Screen DailyAllan HunterDec 7, 2015
A heartwarming true story that has been expertly crafted into an irresistible, emotion-charged documentary. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRupert HawksleyDec 4, 2015
Dark Horse is a shuddering, but delicately handled, exploration of that most basic human desire: to leave a mark and to forge a legacy. Read full review
80
CineVueJames LuxfordDec 4, 2015
Dark Horse is a relentlessly pleasing film that has all the satisfying hallmarks of a Rocky-like underdog tale with the added value of being true. While one suspects a feel-good studio adaptation won't be far off, the real story is a worthwhile bet. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 4, 2015
With its sheer warmth and likability, this good-natured documentary won my heart. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJun 2, 2016
It’s an old-fashioned tale of an individual overcoming the odds — only in this case, that individual happens to be a horse. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniMay 27, 2016
Americans seem uncommonly uncomfortable discussing our own class struggles. But, boy, do we love to watch the Brits do it. I think that's one reason the inspiring and joyful Dark Horse is such an appealing film. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMay 26, 2016
But when Dark Horse leaves the feel-good realm to show news footage of a failed miners’ strike, or to have the camera linger on the impoverished surroundings where Dream Alliance’s owners still dwell, it suggests that it will take more than a few fairy tale finishes for their reality to change. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerMay 19, 2016
The racer turns out to be a contender, but the small-time syndicate is the real story, an inspiring tale heard, as it were, straight from the horse’s mouth. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMay 12, 2016
Who can resist a good horse story? Simply and directly made, Dark Horse is a rousing documentary. Read full review
75
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerMay 7, 2016
It’s a feel-good story enlivened by the fact that there’s no overly sentimentalized hokum to be found. Read full review
75
The Film StageMichael SnydelMay 7, 2016
Osmond knows how to present the citizens in a no-nonsense fashion that balances their day-to-day struggles and the parallel triumphs of their beloved horse. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickMay 5, 2016
It’s only a matter of time before someone turns Louise Osmond’s crowd-pleasing documentary, about people in a working-class Welsh mining village invading the snobbish “sport of kings,” gets turned into “The Full Monty” on four hooves. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMay 5, 2016
Dark Horse is a canny package that uses the classic structure of the sports-underdog story to deliver a glowing ode to community pride and the merits of collective action over individual gain. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 5, 2016
Where Dark Horse shines brightest is in its portraits of individuals, and of a town raised up from the depths of economic despair by the promise of one of its own making good. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMay 5, 2016
The villagers, excitable everyday folks, make for capital interview subjects, and the filmmakers wring poignancy from re-enactments your brain knows are a little much but your heart may thrum to anyway. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijDec 7, 2015
What makes the film so much fun to watch is not only its clear underdog narrative — the story's only halfway told by 2007, with several more surprising twists in store — but also that the no-nonsense commoners are such pleasant company, recounting how things went in candid, soundbite-ready and often amusing ways. Read full review
67
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMay 5, 2016
Dark Horse is crowd-pleasing and rousing, but its biggest problem is that no successive part of the documentary can sustain the power of its opening prologue. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMay 5, 2016
A sweet if underwhelming documentary with plenty of character, but told in such a simple and gentle way, it doesn’t quite grab audiences as it could. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounDec 4, 2015
It’s a winning yarn, but Osmond has to crack the whip to get it over the finishing line. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna SmithDec 4, 2015
It's hard not to be seduced by this folky yarn. Read full review
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