The Ardennes
Film Movement | Release Date: January 6, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoJan 6, 2017
The Ardennes may be saturated in dark blues and snow-covered blankness, but it burns with bright fury as Robin Pront inches closer to his film’s inevitable breaking point. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJan 5, 2017
Even though, in retrospect, The Ardennes feels a little obvious and secondhand, it unfolds with enough speed and wit to hold your attention. Read full review
60
Village VoiceBilge EbiriJan 5, 2017
In the end, for all the artistry on display, The Ardennes is more admirable than inspiring. It has style, and even suspense, but relatively little imagination. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonDec 22, 2016
This is a punchy and promising debut from Pront. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeDec 22, 2016
A promising if not quite audacious debut by Robin Pront, the film benefits from a solidly envisioned family dynamic but doesn't really generate much heat until its final act. Read full review
60
EmpireAlly WybrewDec 22, 2016
The film’s bleak, Coen-esque sense of isolation, cold brutality and clutch of confident performances...make for a decent and engaging story that culminates in an enjoyably nasty conclusion. Read full review
60
Total FilmStephen PuddicombeDec 22, 2016
Shooting in dull, wintry colours, the mood is set for a story that can only end badly. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJan 4, 2017
First-time director Robin Pront serves up plenty of brooding atmosphere, but the screenplay, adapted from a stage play by Pront and Jeroen Perceval (who also plays the sensible Harvey Keitel role), never succeeds in eluding genre cliché. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJan 12, 2017
The Ardennes is an odd mixture of glum-chic style and emotional curiosity, a story of brotherly tensions that primarily comes off like a movie posing as a story of brotherly tensions. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 9, 2017
Dave’s dread of his brother hooks The Ardennes onto a long chain of fraternal crime dramas, from “The Public Enemy” (1931) and “On the Waterfront” (1954) to “We Own the Night” (2007). Pront can hardly be blamed if his actors lack the sinew of Cagney or Brando. Read full review
40
VarietyBen KenigsbergDec 22, 2016
The climax quickens the film’s pulse but doesn’t exactly grow organically from what’s proceeded it. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 22, 2016
A disappointment. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineClayton DillardDec 23, 2016
It predictably lurches toward acts of extreme violence with little interest other than the instant titillation such moments afford. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJan 6, 2017
The movie, directed by Robin Pront from a script by Pront and Jeroen Perceval (who’s also one of the film’s lead actors), is well-crafted up to a point. But the end to which it is crafted is utterly useless. Read full review
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