In the Tall Grass
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): October 4, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
The PlaylistKristy PuchkoOct 3, 2019
In The Tall Grass proves a solidly spooky film, seeded with some tantalizing moments of terror. But it never grows to outright terrifying. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 4, 2019
The film loses much of its lean, mean narrative drive when we get into group dynamics — who can you trust, who has been drinking the tall grass KoolAid — and the whole supernatural mumbo-jumbo “explaining” what they’re dealing with, and how they can escape it, takes over In the Tall Grass. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 4, 2019
This should be a haunting, claustrophobic nightmare, but Natali over-complicates the source material — just like his characters, our reasons for investing in what happens next get lost in the fields. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 3, 2019
Natali’s aesthetic exercise eventually outgrows his narrative trappings, and he’s forced to add unnecessary and foggy backstory to the source of the overgrown greenery. Read full review
58
ConsequenceDan CaffreyOct 3, 2019
The strong atmospherics and performances aren’t quite enough to keep In the Tall Grass from feeling like, well, wandering through a bunch of tall grass. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeOct 2, 2019
The movie is a mixed bag, well shot and well acted enough to mostly keep the viewer’s attention, but meandering enough to frustrate at the same time. It’s bookended by flat, brightly lit, purely functional scenes that don’t quite erase the memory of the surrealist horrors that unfold at its peak, but do come close. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayOct 7, 2019
Despite the handsome Craig Wrobleski cinematography, and despite a typically fine performance by Patrick Wilson as the lost kid’s dad — slowly going mad in the bush — “In the Tall Grass” runs too long and repeats itself too much to be as gripping as its source material. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckOct 2, 2019
In the Tall Grass is at least impressive on a technical level. Cinematographer Craig Wrobelski manages to find every conceivable way to make tall grass visually ominous, with Mark Korven's spooky score and the ambient sound design making valuable atmospheric contributions as well. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 3, 2019
In the Tall Grass is just a few minutes old before the emptiness beneath its Escherisms creeps up into the soil, and the movie only grows more enervating with each new wrinkle Natali introduces. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeOct 4, 2019
While some of the nastier lurches in the third act will appease genre fans, the guff that surrounds them will probably confuse and ultimately alienate them, the film’s moving parts never really moving in unison. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryOct 4, 2019
Fittingly, for a story about wandering around in a field, it winds up going nowhere. Read full review
40
The New York TimesScott TobiasOct 3, 2019
Natali whips up an atmospheric frenzy in kind, but every new addition is a subtraction. Two characters condemned to an eternal game of “Marco Polo” is scary enough on its own. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChuck BowenOct 1, 2019
Vincenzo Natali’s film divests itself of stakes in the name of total meaninglessness. Read full review
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