Pioneer
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: December 5, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 4, 2014
What’s admirable about Pioneer is its succession of interesting environments, both below and above the water’s surface, and the quietly appealing figure at the center of the international intrigue. Read full review
80
Village VoiceSam WeisbergDec 2, 2014
The tension never lets up. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineCarson LundNov 30, 2014
Its greatest asset, and another trait it shares with Mann and Fincher's work, is a careful attention toward the particulars of its milieu in a way that doesn't call attention to those period touches. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 4, 2014
As far as conspiracy thrillers go, Pioneer is as paranoid as they come. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 5, 2014
Remember this name: Aksel Hennie. If Pioneer, a mixed bag of a conspiracy thriller, works at all, it largely does so because of him. Hennie, now into his second decade as an actor in Norwegian film (he’s also written and directed a feature) gives a spectacular performance as Petter. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonApr 9, 2014
Pioneer delivers insidious, shadowy tension, while it’s genuinely surprising to find yourself so engrossed – story glitches notwithstanding – in key issues like compression sickness and divers’ gas supply. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie ErrigoApr 7, 2014
Political chicanery and psychological mystery entwine with some stunning underwater sequences but don’t gel entirely satisfactorily. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamApr 7, 2014
Pioneer features underwater sequences so breathless they’ll thrill even James Cameron (director Erik Skjoldbjærg made the original Insomnia) but Petter’s truth-chasing is at times too frantic and melodramatic. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoDec 18, 2014
The movie isn’t really bad, just tepid, and it’s partly redeemed by a good lead performance. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldDec 4, 2014
Mr. Skjoldbjaerg, who also tapped Norwegian history with his bank robbery re-enactment “Nokas,” doesn’t convey a creeping atmosphere of moral rot so much as an irksome glumness. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanDec 5, 2014
This one can't handle the pressure. Read full review
40
The DissolveMike D'AngeloDec 4, 2014
With no compelling characters in sight, and a director whose formal acumen begins and ends with forbidding locations (in this case, underwater), Pioneer has to lean on its drab story. Read full review
40
The TelegraphMike McCahillApr 10, 2014
The more tangled the plot becomes, the more hackneyed Skjoldbaerg’s tactics get. Read full review
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