High Flying Bird
Netflix | Release Date: February 8, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 28, 2019
The film is funny, quick-witted, and even throws in a little sex for good measure. Best of all, its various competing ideas eventually knot together in such satisfying ways that the didacticism required to bind them up feels more like a feature than a bug. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKimber MyersJan 28, 2019
High Flying Bird is often serious in how it deals with issues more substantial than just sports, but even beyond McCraney’s sharp, witty script, there’s a sense of joy here. The fun Soderbergh had making the film radiates off it, with this masterful movie that reminds the audience why we’re lucky one of the greatest living directors is still in the business. Read full review
90
The AtlanticDavid SimsFeb 10, 2019
Soderbergh’s unorthodox film release and cheap, idiosyncratic shooting style are ideal fits for the director’s fascinating, speculative story about the future of the NBA. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFeb 7, 2019
What makes High Flying Bird so welcome and unexpected is its combination of immediacy and drama, its provocative creation of here and now energy and smart dialogue around the unlikely subject of professional sports in general and pro basketball in particular. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottFeb 7, 2019
The intellectual virtuosity on display is somehow both ostentatious and casual. The performances — Holland’s in particular, full of sadness, guile and audacity — feel the same way. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzFeb 8, 2019
The thrill Soderbergh and his co-conspirators are enjoying is contagious. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 5, 2019
Steven Soderbergh’s film considers modern media as a vehicle for revising white patriarchal capitalism. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJan 29, 2019
Most modern sports movies feel a few years behind the story—purposefully nostalgic for a feel-good, motivational story. High Flying Bird feels like a product of the 2018-19 NBA season, which may not have a lockout but is dealing with the same issues. Read full review
85
The VergeKeith PhippsFeb 8, 2019
Regardless of how the film looks, Soderbergh’s pacing and gift for editing are what keep the action tight, while McCraney’s crisp dialogue livens up potentially mundane, exposition-heavy exchanges. His script lets the cast — especially Sohn, Beetz, and Holland — tear into one memorable exchange after another. Read full review
85
TheWrapRobert AbeleJan 28, 2019
There is tons of game in this fleet, fast-paced modern sports story, which entertainingly substitutes lived-in wisdom for expert dribbling, skillful gambits for clever passing, and witty dialogue for points-racking shots. Read full review
83
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonFeb 9, 2019
With High Flying Bird, Soderbergh may well have crafted the most direct distillation of his own philosophy of filmmaking to date: idiosyncratic, confident, and endlessly disruptive. Read full review
80
SlateDan KoisFeb 8, 2019
In its portrayal of black athletes and their families navigating a system that both depends on them and abases them, High Flying Bird is a low-key act of subversion that just happens also to be a sleek, entertaining drama. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearFeb 8, 2019
It needs a Soderbergh, who invests this tale of outrunning and outgunning organizations — be they sports leagues or studios tied to old distribution/exhibition models — with a sense of energy, verve and mischievous glee. Read full review
80
The GuardianHenry BarnesFeb 7, 2019
In picking at a system until it’s threaded, High Flying Bird is a classic Soderbergh construct. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 28, 2019
Soderbergh and McCraney have entertainingly stirred the pot and put a perspective on the screen that will stir some reactions in the real world and get the issue of ownership and fairness talked about, at least for a while. It’s a sharp-minded film. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleFeb 13, 2019
High Flying Bird is a heady movie, full of political thought about sport, entertainment, race and power. Rather than float on production value, it sustains itself on the tension of ideas, exchanged rapid-fire in gleaming office towers. Read full review
75
The Film StageNick NewmanFeb 7, 2019
McCraney may be the closest thing a totalizing directional presence like Soderbergh has had to a true co-author in years. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jan 29, 2019
High Flying Bird turns out to be a kind of shaggy heist movie, with a grand design (and payout) that’s only fully clear in retrospect. Read full review
70
VarietyAndrew BarkerJan 28, 2019
It’s certainly more interested in ideas than characters, and the film stumbles when it makes half-hearted attempts at romantic intrigue or tragic backstories, but its subversive view of race, money and power in modern sports couldn’t be more timely. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinFeb 4, 2019
High Flying Bird is an unshapely piece of storytelling — there are gaps in the plot, and it never locks into a rhythm — but that mournfulness and resentment seep into you. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyFeb 6, 2019
Written by Oscar-winning Moonlight screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, the new film feels stagey, confusing, and didactically obvious. You can tell that it was written by a playwright (which McCraney was and is). Read full review
50
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenFeb 13, 2019
McCraney has a background as a playwright, which may explain why High Flying Bird mostly consists of a series of zippy conversations. Each one is overstuffed with so many ideas—not just about sports, but also sexuality, faith, economics, and history—that the characters don’t quite register as flesh-and-blood figures. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 28, 2019
Although compelling ideas float through High Flying Bird, the film is neither well crafted or intellectually rigorous enough to compensate for a generally lacklustre presentation. Read full review
More From This Movie

78 Critic Reviews

5.9 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