The Wild Goose Lake
Film Movement | Release Date: March 6, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The Film StageSep 11, 2019
This film is fascinating because of how those genre thrills are complicated by these off-kilter, idiosyncratic formal choices that trigger not just a lurid dreamscape and uncomfortable humor (that singing head in the hall of mirrors!) but also a vulnerability in the face of alienation and suffering. Read full review
90
The New York TimesGlenn KennyMar 5, 2020
The movie exhilarates. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineSam C. MacSep 9, 2019
The film’s masterstroke is that its fugitive antiheroes are framed by an environment that reflects their criminal lives back at them. Read full review
85
SlashfilmJason GorberMar 1, 2020
Like a beautifully constructed puzzle box, The Wild Goose Lake various layers unfold in satisfying ways. With elegant violence, emotional richness and a complex yet coherent storyline, this is a rare bit of crime thriller treat that truly pays off. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd May 21, 2019
What it’s really about is the interplay of shadows and neon, and the endless possibilities of bodies in motion—planted on speeding motorcycles and racing up and down staircases, always chasing or being chased. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 23, 2019
Like a more showily virtuosic version of his countryman Jia Zhangke (who worked with Liao in his own recent gangster thriller “Ash Is Purest White”), Diao uses the conventions of genre to illuminate a world where crime, corruption, rapid social flux and soul-crushing inequality are inextricably intertwined. Read full review
80
Time OutDave CalhounMay 21, 2019
The story itself, a twisty, hard-to-keep-track-of tale of revenge and double and triples crosses, is not especially remarkable. But that barely matters when there’s such virtuoso image-making on display. Read full review
80
VarietyJessica KiangMay 21, 2019
It may refer inescapably to genre classics from elsewhere, but The Wild Goose Lake is like an organic feature of the Chinese cinematic landscape, as though it pooled onto the screen in all its oily, murky glory, having welled up from deep inside the ground. Suddenly, China feels like the noirest place on Earth. Read full review
80
Screen DailyJonathan RomneyMay 21, 2019
Diao’s flamboyant direction means that he often sets up one elaborately staged tableau just for a single shot, those shots sometimes coming in expansive flurries; some action scenes also feature lightning inserts fired off with surreal abruptness, as in the first gang rumble. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerMay 21, 2019
A film that doesn’t hit you like a tidal wave as much as it gradually washes over you, leaving in its wake a series of memorable set-pieces and a dense, dark web of violence and fatality. Read full review
80
CineVueMartyn ConterioMay 21, 2019
The editing might be unexpected, unconventional, a bit annoying, but it is also very smart. Creating as it does a vital tension between plot and theme, pushing the two characters unrelentingly towards an event horizon and black hole denouement. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMar 30, 2020
What it all adds up to has some of the unevenness of a nightmare, the belly sweat and oscillating fans of muggy summer heat mixed up with unrealities. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyMar 6, 2020
With The Wild Goose Lake, Yinan signals the makings of a major filmmaker. Perhaps the world he creates is a bit too scattered for its own good, but you will still want to melt inside its stunning, riotous glow. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 26, 2020
The location, the cultural mores, and most especially the sparse soundtrack (mixing minimalist electronica and the guzheng or Chinese zither) may be Chinese, but this is all-American noir at its blackened heart. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 21, 2019
The musicality of Diao’s cinema has never been more symphonic, but it comes at the expense of his ability to properly conduct this script. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 21, 2019
I felt that we were not permitted much access to the character’s innermost thoughts, and so some of the film’s romance, and its fatalism, did not have the piercing impact as the visual masterstrokes. But there’s no doubting Diao’s style. Read full review
58
The PlaylistJordan RuimyMay 29, 2019
Despite this disappointing effort, Diao continues to impress with the clever use of his camera. Now, one just wishes he could find the substance to pull all this style together in a winning fashion. Read full review
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