The Novice
IFC Films | Release Date: December 17, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeApr 4, 2022
It’s not surprising to learn that its writer and director, Lauren Hadaway, who based this film on her own experiences on a college rowing team, has a background in sound editing. Read full review
100
The PlaylistLena WilsonJan 6, 2022
This film more than proves its director and lead’s talents. Sure, it’s gut-wrenching, but film fans will also find it exhilarating. It is the artistic equivalent of watching a well-trained underdog vault the finish line at her first big race. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshDec 16, 2021
Hadaway’s previous career as a sound editor is all over this piece, as is her personal experience as a collegiate rower. She has crafted this film as catharsis, and like her protagonist’s journey, it’s both harrowing and triumphant. Read full review
90
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeDec 16, 2021
Fuhrman’s performance matches the filmmaking for its intensity. The movie achieves a surreal allure — at times, it’s hard to pay attention to the dialogue because the images and the sound design are already communicating so much. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesJul 8, 2021
Dark, unnerving and thrilling, The Novice is poised to become a genre-breaking success. A film this raw made with such a steady, assured hand only comes along once in a while. We should take notice. Read full review
89
TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceDec 16, 2021
What’s absolutely clear is Hadaway’s stunning eye and control of the camera. Her direction is not just steady but highly evocative, and the cinematography from Todd Martin, making his feature debut after shooting dozens of shorts and music videos, is just breathtaking. What a wonderful debut from them both. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 20, 2021
The escapism on offer here isn’t of a light and airy nature but instead provides insight into the darker, obsessive aspects of the human experience. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireDec 17, 2021
The feature filmmaking debut from writer/director/co-editor Lauren Hadaway is an intimate and powerful sensory experience all around, but it’s the sound editing—Hadaway’s first calling, having worked with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Zack Snyder, and Damien Chazelle—that grabs you off the top and envelops you throughout. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandJun 19, 2021
It’s Furhman, steadily building Alex from the inside out, even as she’s crumbling around her, that adds the most tension and intensity to the film, offering a fully realized performance in a story all about the pain of realizing how much further you have to go. Read full review
80
Little White LiesElizabeth WiartApr 1, 2022
Hadaway paints a deep portrait of mental struggles that soon overflow onto the main character’s body, from the peeling bloody skin of her hands to her slashed ribs. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 16, 2021
Isabelle Fuhrman infuses Dall with an ambiguous glower of ambition that’s scary and human. Read full review
80
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiJun 26, 2021
Fuhrman’s performance is so unhinged, and Hadaway’s direction is so merciless, that The Novice constantly dances on the edge of character drama and full-fledged horror movie. It’s an impressive feat of incisively dark tone, even if the plot and characters are little more than shadows. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlex SavelievJun 20, 2021
Hadaway indicts this country’s misguided preoccupation with being first, scrutinizing America’s twisted values via the prism of her uber-competitive protagonist. As a result, The Novice officially claims the title of The Best Film About Rowing Ever Made. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubCraig D. LindseyDec 16, 2021
The filmmaker, who also co-edited The Novice, depicts Alex’s freshman year in quick-cutting, frenetic, anxiety-ridden fashion, with composer Alex Weston’s string-heavy score properly ratcheting up the tension and Fuhrman gamely acting like a harried but dedicated ball of nerves. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 15, 2021
Fuhrman’s polished intensity draws us in, even if we’re repelled a bit by this young woman who will not give herself “a break,” at anything. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonJun 22, 2021
Even when The Novice stumbles, Hadaway hits on something disquieting about a culture that places such a burden on young people to be great that they put themselves through punishing extremes. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineMark HansonDec 14, 2021
At its best, the film suggests some kind of hellish Nike commercial, where “just do it” becomes less an inspirational motto than a grueling portent of doom. Read full review
60
The GuardianPhil HoadMar 29, 2022
It’s hard to deny Fuhrman’s pinch-faced vehemence and the film’s hallucinatory verve. Read full review
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