Light of My Life
Saban Films | Release Date: August 9, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The Film StageRory O'ConnorJul 11, 2019
Affleck has always been a wonderfully understated performer and he has taken that minimalist approach with him behind the camera. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarAug 8, 2019
A heartrending survivalist saga positioned in the proximity of Debra Granik’s indie darling “Leave No Trace” and Cormac McCarthy’s postapocalyptic novel “The Road.” Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgAug 7, 2019
Affleck carries a great deal of weight in the movie, but its Pniowsky who shines as the young pre-teen learning quickly what it means to be an adult. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganFeb 14, 2019
A superb performance by Affleck, who constructs a touching and believable rapport with his 11 year-old co-star, grounds his low-key directorial and feature-writing debut. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyAug 9, 2019
Affleck's acting style has always been understated to the point of barely existing. It's why he was riveting in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” in particular. Affleck drifts, he floats through dialogue, he doesn't have words at his easy disposal. This works well for him here. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 3, 2019
Affleck ratchets up the suspense and raises the stakes with the film’s third act, but takes his sweet indulgent time getting us there. He establishes the relationship and the characters in a patience-testing twelve minute opening scene. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnFeb 14, 2019
Light of My Life delivers a lush variation on familiar elements, and wends its way to a tense final showdown that makes the wandering trajectory worthwhile. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJessica KiangFeb 14, 2019
Light of my Life is not a bad film, instead it’s a heartfelt, intelligent and earnest one (if a little tidy). Read full review
70
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 8, 2019
Even when Light of My Life feels like it’s straining under the heaviness of its storytelling, there’s something about the way he guides us to an inevitable endgame that suggests the filmmaker knows what he’s doing. It’s not a pretty picture he paints here. But it makes you want Affleck to keep picking up that brush. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBilge EbiriAug 8, 2019
It’s not original, but it is enlivened by some artful touches and two excellent performances. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 15, 2019
Though Light of My Life is a well-filmed and occasionally brutally effective piece of work, Affleck dilutes the power of the story with too many self-indulgent, patience-testing scenes. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 7, 2019
"The Road" meets "Leave No Trace" with a sprinkling of another half-dozen sharper films, Light of My Life is Casey Affleck’s ode to the power of storytelling. Namely, Casey Affleck’s brand of storytelling: glacial, meandering, but not entirely ineffective. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 14, 2019
What holds the film back is the familiarity of its elements. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 14, 2019
The film’s ambitions might be on the limited side: it’s a clipped survival tale with little of the anguished spiritual dimension that end-of-the-world stories have summoned in the past. But Affleck has certainly surrounded himself with the right people. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 14, 2019
Scene for scene, Affleck does a decent job of directing — his touch is soft, intimate, humane — but he has saddled himself with a script that isn’t entirely there. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedAug 9, 2019
This one is too close for comfort to "The Road" to inspire much fresh or original thinking. Read full review
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