Holler
IFC Films | Release Date: June 11, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJun 11, 2021
Nicole Riegel's debut feature Holler is a film to treasure—an intimate drama about family and work, steeped in details that can only have been captured by a storyteller who lived them. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJun 14, 2021
Getting sucked into these people’s lives means experiencing the story in all its immediacy, sans judgment. Holler is too entertaining and well-made to be overly dour, too full of suspense and throwaway bits of cinematic elegance. It marks the arrival of a major new directorial talent. Read full review
85
Film ThreatAlan NgJun 9, 2021
Writer/director Nicole Riegel brings such richness to all of her characters that they feel authentic, garnering empathy. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandJun 9, 2021
While the broad strokes of Riegel’s story might sound familiar, Holler finds its power in the particularities, especially Barden’s unfussy and wholly believable performance. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshJun 10, 2021
[Barden] becomes the vessel to express Riegel’s quiet cri de coeur, which is not just yearning to escape one’s own circumstances but the absolute necessity of it. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJun 10, 2021
Character-driven movies this brutally honest about life below the poverty line are few and far between, but the ensemble cast and Riegel’s skills not only behind the camera but also – judging from her lean and mean script – behind the keyboard help Holler rise above expectations and overcome cliche. Read full review
76
Paste MagazineNatalia KeoganJun 10, 2021
Despite stellar direction and cinematography, Holler’s pacing can feel gnawingly languid at times, due in no small part to Riegel’s inclination for brooding sequences with sparse dialogue over all else. Read full review
75
ObserverSiddhant AdlakhaJun 21, 2021
A film that feels immersed in fog, and one that reserves even sunlight for vital moments, Holler is a gorgeously-textured exploration of the way ruthless corporatism trickles down through each layer of a country, and a system, until it falls on the shoulders of a young girl and obscures her future. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJoe BlessingJun 9, 2021
Holler succeeds at putting a human face on large-scale economic trends, telling a suspenseful coming of age story that shows the true cost of lost opportunity. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJun 9, 2021
Much of Holler’s plotting feels driven by issues (factory layoffs, opioids) rather than allowing those issues to naturally exist within the narrative, but Adlon brings an exhausted authenticity to the film that makes up for it. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJun 10, 2021
Riegel has said that Ruth’s story was inspired by her own challenges leaving the area. Even the medium — Super 16-millimeter film, in the era of digital — adds to the ambience of rusting, abandoned machinery. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 9, 2021
The film’s texture is in the details. There’s nothing glamorous about this kind of subsistence, and nothing invented. Read full review
70
Film ThreatAndy HowellJun 9, 2021
The real tragedy is that all of the characters in Holler seem incomplete. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakJun 9, 2021
We feel the futility of this reality with every exasperated sigh Blaze lets loose and defeated look that escapes Ruth’s usually stoic demeanor. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJun 9, 2021
The specificity and authenticity of its setting are the biggest thing Holler has going for it, given that indie drama is rife with variations on this type of social realist coming-of-age tale. The gloomy mood also tamps down thriller elements that appear late in the story, which leaves little but despair for the audience to chew on. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesJun 9, 2021
Riegel seems to still be hung up on Winter’s Bone, making a slavishly imitative film with few flourishes that allow it to stand on its own. Read full review
More From This Movie

76 Critic Reviews

5.7 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