Little Woods
Neon | Release Date: April 19, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesApr 17, 2019
A thriller wants to entertain you. Little Woods wants you to think, and feel. I did both. Read full review
88
ObserverOliver JonesApr 17, 2019
This is not simply one of the finest films to explore the unique challenges that beset women in rural parts of the country where men outnumber them two-to-one. It is also one of the only to illustrate the devastating social impact of the war against women and their reproductive rights that has been waged by statehouses across the nation. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeApr 20, 2019
Little Woods revolves around a remarkable lead performance: Thompson shows her range as an actress in this film in ways that, as fun as they can be, she just doesn’t get to in any of her blockbuster roles. Read full review
83
The Film StageJared MobarakApr 16, 2019
Rather than pass judgment, Little Woods merely allows life to occur in its oft-depressive state of seeming futility. Thompson and James commendably imbue each character with a palpable fear that ensures their actions are beyond reproach. Read full review
83
Film ThreatNatalia WinkelmanMar 28, 2019
Affecting, sincere, and most importantly socially astute ... it’s one of the sharpest and most promising first films I’ve seen in some time. Read full review
83
The PlaylistKimber MyersJan 15, 2019
Little Woods isn’t always subtle, but the occasional lack of nuance doesn’t lessen the power of its timely themes or impressive performances. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 20, 2019
There’s at least one more key aspect of Little Woods that sets it apart: Whereas DaCosta’s dialogue strains to find poetry amid such scrappy conditions, she intuitively reveals a deeper dimension to both of her heroines by taking an extra beat at the beginning or end of scenes to observe their faces when no one else is watching. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriApr 20, 2019
It’s a testament to the strength of Thompson’s performance, and DaCosta’s control of tone and action, that for all the bleakness of this world, we keep watching. The result is a work that lingers, grimly, in the mind. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 18, 2019
This startlingly accomplished debut feature by Nia DaCosta has the eyes and ears of a documentary — the opioid crisis is everywhere, the nearest hospital is far away — but the heart of a drama, and a stirring one. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 17, 2019
With a confident eye and economy of storytelling, DaCosta crafts a fiercely feminist and sensitive family portrait that fearlessly takes on the capitalist rot at the core of the American healthcare system. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenOct 3, 2019
A predictable narrative is given rich contours in Little Woods. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoApr 19, 2019
Everyone here is very good to great, which makes it all the more frustrating when the dialogue given to them by DaCosta gets a few shades too literal. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrApr 17, 2019
Under DaCosta’s sure, steady direction, Little Woods belongs with movies like “Frozen River” (2008), “Winter’s Bone” (2010), “Wind River” (2017), and last year’s “Leave No Trace” — dramas about overlooked communities that ache with empathetic detail. The movie steers clear of polemics, though, and puts its faith in its characters, specifically the exhausted, unbreakable bond of sisterhood that unites these siblings. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 17, 2019
Everyone comes out of Little Woods looking good, and DaCosta comes out with a directing career. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 16, 2019
First-time writer-director Nia DaCosta may have filmed her Northern Plains tale on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. But she has a firm grasp of the loneliness and hopelessness of lives left behind by a boom in a state where working class women’s career and OB-GYN options are limited. Read full review
70
TheWrapCandice FrederickApr 18, 2019
At its core, Little Woods is a film that is grounded in reality, highlighting a complicated sisterhood and the perseverance of two flawed women facing life-or-death circumstances. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 17, 2019
The film’s most powerful asset is Thompson (Sorry to Bother You, Thor: Ragnarok) in a performance that cuts through the script’s cliches to find the heart of a character that reflects the plight of a woman alone in a man’s world. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 15, 2019
Less relentlessly bleak than Winter's Bone, which along with Frozen River is an obvious inspiration here, the life-on-the-margins drama makes a fine, tense vehicle for Tessa Thompson, who in the last few years has stood out in a variety of genres. Read full review
70
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyJan 15, 2019
Nia DaCosta’s heartland tale, rough around some edges, is a promising feature debut. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 18, 2019
DaCosta is better at setting scenes than digging into them. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenApr 15, 2019
Nia DaCosta indulges one of rural quasi-thriller’s most tiresome gambits: humorlessness as a mark of high seriousness. Read full review
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