The Overnighters
Drafthouse Films | Release Date: October 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Boston GlobePeter KeoughNov 6, 2014
Through patience, skill, discretion, and trust, Jesse Moss has taken a seemingly small town story and turned it into both a microcosm of today’s most urgent issues and a portrait of a single suffering soul. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisOct 23, 2014
Director Jesse Moss was basically a one-man production crew, which explains how he was able to film such intimate, painful conversations. His work is haunting — one of the best documentaries of the year. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonOct 7, 2014
Jesse Moss's documentary The Overnighters is a heart-wrencher about the clash between economics and ethics. Its story sounds like the sort of dry news blurb you'd skim over in the Sunday paper but unfolds into an epic tragedy. Read full review
100
IndieWireEric KohnJan 27, 2014
At first galvanizing in its depiction of survival amid dire circumstances, "The Overnighters" transforms into a devastating portrait of communal unrest. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 31, 2014
Jesse Moss’s documentary The Overnighters is being hailed as a modern-day “Grapes of Wrath,” which, up to a point, it is. But it’s far more complicated than that. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 8, 2014
In examining the man’s selfless service, Moss uncovers something greater than a vision of a divided community; he’s made a drama as prickly and surprising as any fictional character study. Read full review
91
The PlaylistKatie WalshJan 27, 2014
The Overnighters is starkly bleak and devastatingly humane, and an indelible American documentary. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirOct 9, 2014
The Overnighters is a documentary about real people in a real place. This is both amazing and frustrating. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 9, 2014
A blue-collar meditation on the meaning of community and the imperative of compassion, one that endures even as an unexpectedly prurient drama unfolds at its center. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJan 27, 2014
The film is non-fiction storytelling of remarkable nuance. Read full review
90
VarietyJustin ChangJan 27, 2014
Lensed with a complete absence of frills that perfectly suits its honest, unvarnished tone, The Overnighters presents an indelible snapshot of a despairing moment in American history, as men abandon homes, families and dreams to stake their claim in an ever-shrinking land of opportunity. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 15, 2014
A third-act revelation will knock viewers silly and cause them to reevaluate everything that’s come before, but even without that jaw-dropping information, Moss’ film is a righteous piece of empathetic, of-the-moment documentary filmmaking. Read full review
88
Washington PostStephanie MerryNov 13, 2014
The Overnighters is commendable for many reasons, not the least of which is the way it allows complex issues to remain complex. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 13, 2014
A rich and troubling documentary highlight of the year. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireOct 10, 2014
While The Overnighters has the feel of an epic, given what an expansive slice of America’s current economic experience it ponders, it’s also a very intimate one. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyJan 9, 2015
Patient, non-judgemental docu-making yields psychologically rich results in Jesse Moss’s potent dispatch from recession-hit America. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonOct 28, 2014
The film’s unwillingness to judge either the decent yet doubt-wracked pastor, or the damaged souls seeking a new start, effectively draws us in to a whole cluster of gnarly dilemmas, where humane intentions prove counter-productive and the truth only makes matters worse. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid ParkinsonOct 27, 2014
A painful and poignant excoriation of the American dream. Read full review
80
The DissolveScott TobiasOct 7, 2014
The thrill of The Overnighters is in witnessing a heartrending payoff that could not be anticipated nor written—and, miraculously, closes the movie on a perfect irony. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineClayton DillardOct 5, 2014
If it ultimately can't reconcile all that's presented in its too-brief runtime, that's largely because its situation, much like the dissonance between those involved, is comprehensibly irresolvable. Read full review
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