Dark River
FilmRise | Release Date: June 29, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinJun 27, 2018
It’s the superbly acted interplay between the embattled Alice and Joe that drives this lean, gripping, often profoundly tragic tale. Read full review
90
Screen DailyFionnuala Halligan
Dark River is distinguished by superior film-making and admirable command of tone and pacing. Once again, Barnard delivers an intimate take on a difficult subject, raising anticipation for her future work should she decide to scale up. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 27, 2018
Dark fare indeed, and you won’t shake it off easily. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 6, 2018
Great filmmakers remember that cinema is a visual medium, that you never say something with dialogue when you can show it with an image. That’s how Clio Barnard tells the story of Dark River, a quiet, tense and beautiful tale of brothers and sisters and abuse set in Yorkshire sheep country. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 28, 2018
Gorgeously photographed by the Brazilian cinematographer Adriano Goldman, Dark River is a raw ballad of doom and damage. Read full review
80
Film Journal InternationalStephen Whitty Jun 27, 2018
As much as you might want to look away from Dark River, you can’t. The direction is assured, inventive, precise. The performances are compelling. And while the writing is often a little too deliberately obscure, once it becomes clear where the story is heading, it moves forward with the force of classic tragedy. Read full review
80
Village VoiceKaren HanJun 27, 2018
It’s in Alice’s battle with her brother Joe (Mark Stanley) that the film is at its most compelling. Read full review
80
CineVueDaniel Green
The key here is the perfectly-cast Wilson, constantly swimming against the current of her own harrowing memories, often telling more in a single glance than her sporadic utterances to her similarly-broken brother ever could. Read full review
80
Total FilmSimon Kinnear
Rural life is familiar terrain for British cinema, but with Barnard as our guide, it remains an enthralling destination. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy Lodge
Dark River isn’t quite as bracing or as unexpected as the director’s previous work.... Still, there’s scarcely room here for improvement at the level of craft or performance; in particular, it’s gratifying to see leading lady Ruth Wilson headlining a big-screen vehicle worthy of her flinty brilliance. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
The rugged emotional territory (and the Yorkshire accents) prove heavy-going in an uncompromising film that elicits a lot more admiration than enjoyment. Read full review
70
Film ThreatBradley GibsonJun 27, 2018
The film is beautifully executed with grace and lavish cinematography. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie Felperin
The dominant note is the warm but quotidian realism of Giant rather than the experimental daring of Arbor, yet Dark River yields a perceptive study of family dynamics, unfolding in a changing landscape as prey to economic forces and demographic shifts as any urban center. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJun 26, 2018
Throw in expert use of a picturesque yet oppressive location and Dark River almost manages to overcome narrative inertia via sheer force of will. It’s a beautifully crafted, moodily evocative film that’s missing just one spark of true inspiration. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonJun 25, 2018
While Clio Barnard so masterfully limns her protagonist’s tortured soul, the brother-sister drama at the center of the film remains frustratingly hazy. Read full review
60
EmpireAndrew Lowry
This is a wilder, bigger thing than just another farmyard sink drama. There may be little you haven’t seen elsewhere, but there’s no denying the skill here. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Wilson and Stanley are both excellent performers and they are the mainstays of a valuable piece of work, but I felt the ending was contrived and a bit grandiloquent. However, the visual style and fluency of the film are obvious. Read full review
60
The TelegraphPatrick Smith
Barnard once again evokes a grubby, gothic landscape that’ll get right under your fingernails. It’ll stay there for weeks. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd
Barnard, who made The Arbor and The Selfish Giant, has an impeccable sense of grubby pastoral space, and her performers locate some truth in cliché. But this is a kitchen-sink drag. Read full review
58
The PlaylistOliver Lyttelton
It’s still evidently the work of a very talented filmmaker and is certainly never bad, but it also never lives up to its potential. Barnard has a long career ahead of her, but Dark River seems destined to be remembered, years now, as a minor work in her filmography. Read full review
42
The Film StageC.J. Prince
With such a simple approach to heavy subject matter, Barnard creates a distancing effect that reveals the feebleness of her screenplay and direction. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJun 29, 2018
Everything in Dark River feels like it’s designed not with real people in mind but with Serious Independent Cinema in mind. It’s a movie so filled with pregnant pauses and pretentious looks that it never develops an emotional undercurrent at all. Read full review
More From This Movie

69 Critic Reviews

6.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL