The Adderall Diaries
A24 | Release Date: April 15, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 14, 2016
The Adderall Diaries is a complex, absorbing, at times profound look at how we choose to remember our past. Wh Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesTom KeoghApr 21, 2016
What rescues “Diaries” and its grimy, cracked-glass look is its firm grip on Stephen’s incremental awareness that he and his misery are not the center of the universe. Read full review
75
The PlaylistKate ErblandApr 30, 2015
Romanowksy has gamely hacked through Elliott’s purposely messy and tangential material to craft a workable portrait of pain and addiction, one that’s bizarrely entertaining even in its most brutal moments, good enough for at least one hit. Read full review
60
TheWrapDan CallahanApr 23, 2015
At first, Elliott’s struggle does not seem like promising material for a movie, and some might be unsatisfied by the shifting, inchoate nature of the film’s forward trajectory, but at a certain point the narrative begins to coalesce around the idea of taking responsibility for your own life, and Romanowsky makes this seem like a refreshing or at least tough-minded theme. Read full review
58
IndieWireEmily BuderApr 23, 2015
If anything, The Adderall Diaries is worth seeing for the ways it challenges the audience to examine and take responsibility for their own personal narratives. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 14, 2016
[Harris and Franco] bring out the finest in each other as they punch and counter-punch vastly different memories of horrific incidents from the past. It’s great stuff. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the The Adderall Diaries is overwrought, convoluted and irritating. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartApr 14, 2016
A well worn trope that’s tough to elevate beyond eye-roll level. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayApr 8, 2016
It's too busy skipping through subplots to do much more than gloss over such heady issues as the fundamental subjectivity of truth and self-identity. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeApr 14, 2016
On a purely technical level, the film is fine, if overly reliant on indie-movie clichés. It features some good performances from proven actors, and touches on some interesting philosophical questions. Read full review
40
VarietyGuy LodgeApr 23, 2015
Franco’s cultivated impenetrability makes for a pain-ridden but peculiarly passionless experience, with multiple clashing subplots — on such insufficiently explored themes as parental abuse, uxoricide and masochism — obstructing an already opaque character study. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 23, 2015
First-time feature helmer Romanowsky has a hard time distinguishing between the things that draw her to Elliott's story and the things that make him pathetic. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comNick AllenApr 15, 2016
Casting goes a long way with this project, to fill some of the gaps of charisma the story itself lacks. Read full review
33
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 11, 2016
An ironic work of filmmaking, The Adderall Diaries explores the relationship between truth, narration and influence, yet resorts to cheap devices rather than observant truth. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisApr 14, 2016
Spouting stiltedly clichéd dialogue...the actors struggle to sell their characters. Only Mr. Harris eventually succeeds, conveying, in a single speech, what it must be like to be the parent of an addict. Read full review
30
Village VoiceSerena DonadoniApr 14, 2016
Franco seems the ideal interpreter of The Adderall Diaries, but he's reduced the memoirist's tough introspection to misery porn. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedApr 14, 2016
In a lurid, lumpy and lugubrious mess called The Adderall Diaries, misguided first-time director Pamela Romanowsky cleaves a pointless film out of a foggy memoir by writer Stephen Elliott (About Cherry) about a murder case he pursued with no resolution. Read full review
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