Only the River Flows
Kimstim Films | Release Date: July 26, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinChris KnightJul 31, 2024
Only the River Flows — based on the novel Mistakes by the River by Yu Hua — runs a tight 102 minutes but crams a lot of atmosphere into that time, moments of high drama interspersed with bizarre humour. Read full review
83
The Film StageGabrielle MarceauJul 26, 2024
Shujun has built a compelling, evocative mystery that maintains its enigmatic, unfinished feeling even after the higher-ups have closed the case and patted themselves on the back. Read full review
80
Little White LiesJosh Slater-WilliamsAug 22, 2024
Wei maintains a highly individual, slippery and fascinating artistic sensibility all his own. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenAug 16, 2024
This analogue noir set in central China evokes satisfying memories of Bong Joon-ho’s great Korean crime thriller Memories of Murder. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyAug 15, 2024
A jigsaw puzzle, dream sequences and continuous snatches of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata build towards an uneasy denouement that will leave the viewer guessing and obsessing long after the final credits roll. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganJul 26, 2024
Structurally inventive, if not downright format-twisting, it takes a Jacob’s Ladder to 1990s China, where a beleaguered police detective tries so hard to unravel a killing that he spins himself into seeming madness. Read full review
79
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpJul 26, 2024
Shujun’s script, co-written with Yu Hua and Kang, eschews any viewer hand-holding, keeping its messages and themes backgrounded; if there is a greater context for the film’s plot, perhaps it lies in its depiction of law enforcement in mainland China, and the toll police work takes on the people conducting it, though Western critics lacking background in contemporary Chinese social and political mores can at best only speculate at best. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerJul 26, 2024
Like the investigation itself, the meaning of Only the River Flows gradually finds its focus as the story progresses, leaving the viewer staring into the same abyss the detective does — an abyss that, as in any respectable film noir, stares back at him. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteven ScaifeJul 26, 2024
The craft brought to bear on Only the River Flows is captivating, but when it comes to matters of story, it cultivates a frustrating air of disinterest. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeAug 20, 2024
Offbeat flashes of humour punctuate this stylishly enigmatic, Jean-Pierre Melville-inspired crime picture, but the momentum flags a little in a convoluted final act. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawAug 14, 2024
This film is an intriguing and well-made diversion, a puzzle whose missing pieces make a disquieting pattern. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJul 25, 2024
The filmmaker has a gift for disorientation — a chilling cut connects a scene of a pregnancy ultrasound to Ma Zhe flipping through slides of murder evidence — that partly compensates for the muddiness of the plot. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalZachary BarnesJul 25, 2024
As Only the River Flows follows its winding course, the movie seems to lose its grip not merely on the mystery but on its protagonist, becoming less psychologically penetrating and more haphazardly hallucinatory. Looking for clues, we find only the fragments of a fractured mind. Read full review
More From This Movie

70 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL