Hold the Dark
Netflix | Release Date: September 28, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
UproxxVince ManciniOct 1, 2018
It’s not the kind of film you watch waiting for “the answer.” Saulnier isn’t going to solve the equation for you in Hold The Dark. But he is going to kick your ass. Read full review
90
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 13, 2018
It may take a while to acclimate to the film’s off-kilter rhythms and strange happenings — not unlike the film’s protagonist, an outsider entering the forbidding Alaskan wilderness — but Saulnier has crafted his most mature effort to date, mixing his love for pulp fiction with a sombre examination of the inexplicable evil all around us. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnSep 13, 2018
As Hold the Dark sputters to an unsatisfying finale, Wright’s character promises to explain everything that came before. The movie’s great punchline is that he’ll never be able to sort it all out — and we’re right there with him, reeling from a disquieting saga that has no patience for anyone in need easy answers, but keen on leaving us gasping for breath. Read full review
81
The VergeTasha RobinsonSep 14, 2018
This is a film about the wilds — internal and external — and Saulnier shoots both the natural and the human side of the story with his usual sharp instincts for startling and engaging images. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearSep 27, 2018
An extraordinary high-pulp potboiler, one that mixes elements of indigenous mysticism, Greek tragedy and rural revenge flicks, along with a genuinely showstopping centerpiece. Read full review
80
VarietyAndrew BarkerSep 13, 2018
Boasting the sort of shocking brutality and unnerving menace that has become Saulnier’s signature, Hold the Dark is also a strangely seductive film, and one that understands the difference between simple plot resolution and catharsis, leading us on a journey into Alaska’s frigid heart of darkness that poses more questions than it answers. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMatthew MonagleSep 26, 2018
An incredibly evocative film and one of the most evocative neo-Westerns of the past decade. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenOct 17, 2018
Watching Hold the Dark isn’t quite as interesting as ruminating on it afterwards, which is probably both a critique and a compliment. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSep 27, 2018
Its determined ambition and atmospheric skill keeps Saulnier firmly in the category of directors to watch. Read full review
67
Original-CinJim SlotekOct 1, 2018
Considering the (pardon the expression) glacial pace of much of the lead-up, Hold the Dark’s eruption into massacre-level violence is jarring. Once it takes hold, it is relentless and grueling. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Sep 27, 2018
If Hold The Dark lacks the sheer razor-wire tension of Saulnier’s earlier crime-horror corkers, it still knows how to make the carnage count—to force us to experience, on a gut level, every casualty. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJason BaileySep 13, 2018
At its best, it’s a moody, scary, post-Peckinpah meditation on masculinity — and an all too rare opportunity to see Mr. Wright fronting a feature. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzSep 28, 2018
It makes for intriguing and often gripping viewing, but delivers a more confounding experience than is necessary. Still, the director knows how to break those bones real good. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 13, 2018
It’s a brutal slog of a film, admirable in its fearlessness in terms of dark subject matter, but the brutality doesn’t feel worth it in the end. Read full review
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