Loving
Focus Features | Release Date: November 4, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
42
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanNov 22, 2016
Sometimes a movie speaks loudest when nobody raises a voice. I can’t remember a single scene of fierce denunciation, fervid declaration of righteousness, act of violence or shouting match in Loving. Yet it lands with as much impact as any movie you’ll see this year. Read full review
100
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonNov 17, 2016
Far from being preachy, Loving is a beautiful film about daring to love, without fear or compromise. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 10, 2016
Intimate, moving and superbly underplayed, Loving is every bit as soft-spoken and subtly implacable as its protagonists. It lives up to its title as a noun and a verb, with elegant, undeniable simplicity. Read full review
91
ConsequenceSarah KurchakSep 10, 2016
Instead of simple heroes or avatars for big ideas about equality, Loving delivers complex, imperfect human beings who are struggling to find their place in a far from perfect world. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNov 10, 2016
It’s the damnedest thing how the longueurs of Loving have such a cumulative power. I was still crying as the credits ended. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 3, 2016
Mr. Nichols’s most distinct aesthetic choice is the movie’s quietness and the hush that envelops its first scene and that eventually defines the Lovings as much as their accents, gestures, manners and battles. Read full review
90
Village VoiceBilge EbiriNov 3, 2016
Loving downplays the historical significance of its subject in favor of a quiet humanity. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 3, 2016
Loving is an unpretentious film about unassuming real people, but don't let that mislead you. Just as Richard and Mildred Loving ended up overturning the status quo and making American legal history, so this feature on their lives by writer-director Jeff Nichols turns out to be a film of quiet but quite significant strengths. Read full review
90
The New YorkerAnthony LaneOct 31, 2016
The quiet joke of the film is that you could scarcely meet two less revolutionary souls. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 17, 2016
It’s a film about heroism and the right to love, told without stirring speeches. Instead, it unfolds movingly in the tiny moments between Richard and Mildred. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorNov 10, 2016
Mainly the director’s decision to eschew the pulpit in favour of the parishioners pays off handsomely, creating an unaffected yet touching account of this civil-rights victory. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 10, 2016
Warm, intimate and brittle, Loving is the most important movie of 2016, and one of the best. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 3, 2016
The film sneaks up on you, quiet-like, until its implications accumulate. And then it crushes you. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 11, 2016
What’s most important to Nichols’ vision is how much trust he has in his two leads, and what they give back to him in exchange for that trust. Read full review
83
The Film StageRory O'ConnorMay 20, 2016
Nichols has crafted a beautifully moving and tasteful document of a quietly groundbreaking event, told from a very human perspective. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 20, 2016
As polished a film in terms of craft and performance as Nichols has ever made, the director’s trademark considered intelligence shows itself in how subtly it reworks and refreshes the tired conceits of the historical biopic, while still remaining a conventionally appealing and, yes, Oscar-y example of the genre. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinFeb 6, 2017
Less a ‘civil rights drama’ than a tender portrait of a marriage suffering unimaginable stress, Loving soars thanks to its narrative approach and career-best performances from Negga and Edgerton. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 10, 2016
Negga is fantastic. Her eyes alone convey passion, the feeling that she has had enough. Words aren’t needed. Good thing, because neither she nor Richard use them too much. They’re living their lives, harming no one, and being harmed for it. It makes the story one of the best examples of making a universal situation personal. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 3, 2016
The most daring part of this wonderful film, which was written and directed by Jeff Nichols, is its calmness. Momentous events move at a human pace while Richard and Mildred Loving — a matchless pair of performances by Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga — try with varying success to comprehend what’s happening to them. Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensNov 3, 2016
One thing that Loving gets right in a way that few civil rights dramas do: It insists on racial discrimination as a systemic problem, not merely an interpersonal one. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Nov 2, 2016
It's a tough, understated part to play, and Edgerton does a terrific job. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushE. Oliver WhitneySep 17, 2016
It’s a film that slowly sneaks up on you, imbued with such quiet emotions that you don’t feel its full weight and beauty until it ends. Read full review
80
The VergeTasha RobinsonSep 9, 2016
It's a patient film, and it requires some patience from its audience. But its rewards are gentle and winning, and for once, a cinematic history lesson doesn't feel artificial and processed in every pore. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMay 20, 2016
Nichols—director of Take Shelter, Mud and, most recently, Midnight Special—tells the Lovings’ story in a way that feels immediate and modern, and not just like a history lesson. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 20, 2016
It should confirm Nichols' reputation as a mature filmmaker of great tact and intelligence. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 20, 2016
Loving is short on grandstanding and hindsight, long on tenderness and honour, and sticks carefully to the historical record. It also features two central performances of serious delicacy and depth. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisNov 9, 2016
Though it’s impossible to know exactly how these two people felt in coping with this untenable situation – they only wanted to get married and raise a family, nothing else – Nichols gives you a damn good idea, even when it slightly wears your patience. Read full review
78
TheWrapBen CrollMay 22, 2016
The film traces a strong, steady line to a foregone conclusion, and that steadiness is exactly the point. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 12, 2016
Loving is an important and interesting motion picture but it’s not always as involving as it might have been. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniNov 10, 2016
His pictures cover familiar territory. Yet Nichols is blessed with a talent for telling stories from fresh, surprising perspectives. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 10, 2016
The atmosphere of Loving, the feeling it evokes, is the film’s most distinct quality. The mood is somber and restrained, and the characters — not just the principals, but the people they know — seem beaten down. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 10, 2016
Nick Kroll is shrewdly cast as the Lovings' ACLU lawyer, green but enthusiastic; my favorite of the supporting turns comes from Sharon Blackwood, as Richard's rock-solid midwife mother. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 10, 2016
I like this movie a lot, but it may be too intimate, too slow for some moviegoers. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 2, 2016
For the most part a no-frills, almost sedate affair, the drama finds its real power in two strong lead performances. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineSam C. MacOct 29, 2016
Loving finds little grooves of humanity to explore in its characters, and in its milieu, in between expected plot beats. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnMay 20, 2016
The movie's light touch at times makes it difficult to engage with the stakes at hand, and Nichols' reverence for his couple's deep bond is practically so sacred he seems resistant to show any of their flaws. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyMay 20, 2016
Nichols has delivered a timely drama that, unlike most films of its type, doesn’t want to clobber you with its importance. It just tells its story in a modest, even discreet way that well suits the nature of its principal characters. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 20, 2016
Nichols’ film is seemingly less interested in its own glory than in representing what’s right, and though it features two of the best American performances of the past several years, from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (neither of whom are American, hailing from Australia and Ethiopia, respectively), its emotional impact derives precisely from how understated they are. Read full review
67
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonNov 10, 2016
Negga, an Ethiopian-born, Irish-raised Hollywood newcomer, gives an Oscar-worthy performance. She's so still and powerful, she gives the film a depth the script doesn't earn. I can't think of the film without thinking of her gaze, and I can't think of that gaze without admiring the film more than it deserves. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 4, 2016
Loving is a decent and heartfelt movie that, rarity of rarity these days, suffers from being too decent and heartfelt. It is so careful not to give offense that, in some ways, it’s more admirable for what it doesn’t do than for what it does. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Nov 2, 2016
While one would have to be an unabashed bigot not to be moved by the Lovings’ plight, concluding that it’s not so easily dramatized requires no such prejudice. Quiet dignity in the face of adversity doesn’t make for an enthralling couple of hours. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 10, 2016
The cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the overall feel of Loving: all first-rate. Negga and Edgerton are undeniably good. I was impressed. I just wish I’d been more deeply moved. Read full review
60
We Got This CoveredJosh CabritaNov 10, 2016
Loving has Jeff Nichols' trademarks but it lacks the nuanced storytelling that made his previous films so successful. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounMay 20, 2016
This is a thoughtful film, but one that's slightly limited by its own careful restraint. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 20, 2016
Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga play the Lovings as refreshingly ordinary people caught up in the swirl of history, but a benign tastefulness overcomes Loving, smothering chances of a meaningful engagement with the material. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 20, 2016
Here is a film with its heart in the right place, an anatomical correctness coexisting with heartfelt, forthright conviction and an admirable belief in the virtue of simplicity and underplaying.... But this restraint sometimes sags into a kind of absence, and means the film itself is a bit rhetorically underpowered. Read full review
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