Locke
A24 | Release Date: April 25, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMay 9, 2014
That is the sum of writer/director Steven Knight's movie: a man, a car, a hands-free mobile device. And it is extraordinary. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayMay 8, 2014
Locke is so distilled, such a pure example of cinematic storytelling, that it almost feels abstract. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 1, 2014
In writer-director Steven Knight’s mesmerizing jewel of film titled Locke, Tom Hardy is so brilliant we readily watch him drive a car and talk on the hands-free phone for virtually the entirety of the film — and it’s one of the more effortlessly intense and fascinating performances I’ve seen any actor give in recent memory. Read full review
100
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeApr 24, 2014
Hardy might be past needing a star-making performance, but this is the kind of work that raises him to highest echelon of actors working in film today. He and Knight remind us that artists can astonish with the simplest of methods. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 24, 2014
Tom Hardy, the actor who plays him, is by turns spellbinding, seductive, heartbreaking, explosive and flat-out thrilling. At a time when the studios are spending vast sums of money on a bigger-is-better aesthetic, here's a chamber piece with the impact of high drama. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 23, 2014
Yes, Locke is a bit of a storytelling stunt: For the entirety of the movie, Ivan is the only character on screen. But even with nothing to cut away to and no flashbacks to offer context, the film manages to stay as tight as a vise. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlApr 22, 2014
What director Knight excels at is continually inventive framing and composition, at suggesting, through layers of window and reflected traffic, the mental state of Locke, the hero. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 15, 2014
It's a fascinating instance of a filmmaker working with self-imposed rules, but never forgetting that those restrictions are only worthwhile to the extent that they serve character and story. It's a ride well worth taking. Read full review
91
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanMay 15, 2014
Nobody fires a shot. Nobody topples a kingdom. But as Ivan Locke’s life unravels behind the wheel of his car, which he drives almost from the first frame to the last, we can’t look away. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 1, 2014
It is exceptional acting, and Locke is a tremendous piece of filmmaking. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 27, 2014
I’m not crying “masterpiece” here. Locke is too contained, too well-carpentered, too self-consciously “classical.” But tours don’t come much more forceful. Once you’ve taken this 90-odd-minute drive with Tom Hardy, you’ll never forget his face. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 24, 2014
Locke stands out both for the way filmmaker Knight conceived and executed it and for the kind of hypnotic acting Hardy can be counted on to bring to the table. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 17, 2013
No less impressive than the narrative mastery here, however, is the technical execution of this bold minimalist experiment. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMay 14, 2014
A restless, nervy actor, Hardy seems to get a kick out of tying one hand behind his back. He dominated "The Dark Knight Rises" even with a modified ball gag obscuring most of his face. Here, locked behind a steeling wheel and a conceptual gimmick, he only has the upper half of his body to work with. No surprise to anybody who’s been paying attention: Half a Hardy adds up to a hell of a lot. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrMay 8, 2014
The seductively gripping cinematic stunt that calls itself Locke bears a slight resemblance to the recent “All Is Lost.” Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 7, 2014
The real wreckage in Locke is to the main character's old life, and the manner in which it is depicted makes this one of the year's most intriguing motion pictures. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyApr 25, 2014
In the end, Locke is a cinematic stunt that engrosses as it unspools, and pays dividends after it’s been accomplished. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 24, 2014
It's a powerhouse of claustrophobic suspense and fierce emotion, mostly because Tom Hardy, best known as Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises," is a blazing wonder as Locke. Read full review
83
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonSep 17, 2013
A very impressive film, one that can only increase the esteem in which both Knight and Hardy are held. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 24, 2014
Mr. Knight keeps a fairly steady distance from Ivan — underscoring certain tense passages with tighter close-ups — but moment by moment, with a twitch, a shudder, a look, it’s Mr. Hardy who movingly draws you in, turning a stranger’s face into a life. Read full review
80
The DissolveDavid EhrlichApr 24, 2014
The film is essentially a war of attrition between emotion and pragmatism, the rare thriller fueled by stress rather than speed. Read full review
80
CineVueDaniel GreenApr 19, 2014
Locke never shies away from from thrusting 21st concepts of masculinity into the full glare of the high beams, exposing its morally complex protagonist at his most vulnerable before triumphantly rebuilding him from the foundations upwards. Don't miss it. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly RichardsApr 14, 2014
There are films to see on huge screens, but this is one that almost cries out for a small cinema, surrounded by total blackness. It’s a daring experiment brilliantly executed, with Tom Hardy giving one of the performances of his career. Read full review
80
VarietyLeslie FelperinSep 17, 2013
This ingeniously executed study in cinematic minimalism has depth, beauty and poise. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounSep 17, 2013
A masterclass in how the most local, most hemmed-in stories can reverberate with the power of big, universal themes. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 17, 2013
If you are asking an audience to listen to one man talking for an hour and a half, you had better make sure he is worth listening to, and minute-by-minute, Hardy has you spellbound. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMay 9, 2014
The combination of Hardy’s almost androgynous features and powerful physique evokes a young Marlon Brando, and while it’s premature to say he has a talent to match, he has emerged as one of the screen’s most versatile and compelling presences. Locke is what you might call his sedentary tour de force. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 1, 2014
Cinema is not about special effects, but about human emotion and a face in close-up. For those in doubt, Locke is the proof. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 1, 2014
Twenty minutes in, Hardy notwithstanding, you might be tempted to bail on Locke. Don't. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 27, 2014
Locke will hold your interest as it presents a side of the burly, bluff “Dark Knight” villain we have never seen before on screen. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle SmithApr 24, 2014
A captivating Tom Hardy is in the driver’s seat for the one-man show Locke, but like many experimental films, this one suffers from its self-imposed constraints. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedApr 23, 2014
Heading toward his destination as a decent man facing ruin by doing the right thing, Mr. Hardy does a great job acting out the phases of anxiety frustration, confusion, exasperation and ultimate resolve — while working overtime to save a movie that takes place entirely on a cell phone from getting boring. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezApr 20, 2014
The literalizing of Ivan Locke's hidden self and his inability to master it ultimately exposes the film as the squarest kind of theater: drama therapy. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJun 27, 2014
Sometimes the nuts-and-bolts of the story threaten to snag, most often on conversations about the very specific details of Locke's largely humdrum job. It's those moments in particular that keep Locke from ever quite shaking the feeling that it's a gimmick film. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMay 15, 2014
As intriguing as Hardy is to watch, the picture can’t overcome its cinematic-stunt vibe. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Apr 23, 2014
Locke, as fascinating as it is in theory, never evolves into anything more than a glorified acting exercise. Read full review
40
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 17, 2013
Full credit to Hardy and Knight for making a film such as Locke. Low-budget film-makers could learn a lot from their method. And yet – having stripped away all but the bare necessities, having reduced the components to a car and a man – they make a classic error of overcompensation. Read full review
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