Thoroughbreds
Focus Features | Release Date: March 9, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 8, 2018
Thoroughbreds doesn’t look or sound anything like other teen-centric movies, but this is hardly a surface-only character study. Read full review
100
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlMar 7, 2018
Working with Lyle Vincent as director of photography, Finley continually offers up striking, emotionally resonant compositions, including a wide variety of inventive two shots in which the leads talk at or simply regard each other. Either actress could command the frame; when they share it, the air between them trembles. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jan 31, 2018
Thoroughbreds...has been made with diabolical craft and intelligence, the kind that marks Finley as a major new American talent. But it’s no empty exercise, no mere calling card. The style all comes in service of the central relationship and the superb performances that bring it to bewitching life. Read full review
91
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonJan 31, 2018
It’s the pair’s bond that helps to make the film more interesting than just a study of wealthy murderousness (though it’s great at that too). It’s also a portrait of female friendship that, despite the dark places it goes to, proves to be oddly touching. Read full review
90
ScreenCrushE. Oliver WhitneyJan 29, 2017
Ultimately it’s Finley’s sleek and stylish visual language that makes Thoroughbred a must-see, and one of the best surprises out of Sundance. He composes his shots with such precision, control, and confidence. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireMar 9, 2018
Finley has created a film that feels original and alive. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattMar 8, 2018
What begins as a gleefully nasty piece of work gradually picks up more nuance as it goes, adding dimensions to characters who could easily have coasted on the story’s arched-eyebrow burlesque. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 29, 2017
Thoroughbred is a dark and pointed piece of work that depends on the delicacy with which someone can thread the needle between Hitchcockian suspense and capitalistic venom, and Finley — adapting his own play to the screen — demonstrates a cinematic authority that eludes many filmmakers who have worked in the medium for decades. Read full review
80
EmpireAndrew LowryApr 9, 2018
Dark fun, with performances to savour and a set of references too seldom made in today’s pictures, this is a treat. It may peter out at the end, but what a calling card for Cory Finley, and this could be the last outing for its leads before superstardom beckons. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMar 8, 2018
Thoroughbreds plunges you into an ice-cold bath of amorality, but debuting writer-director Cory Finley has such a command of details—the perfectly soigné clothes and hairdos, the lavish Connecticut living rooms and attentive gardening staffs—that you’ll laugh your way through the shivers. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 8, 2018
The threat of violence churns beneath nearly every frame of this poised and coolly disturbing movie, but Finley's diabolical sense of mischief is held in check — and in some ways amplified — by his discretion. Read full review
80
UproxxKeith PhippsMar 8, 2018
Finley’s debut is an odd, hypnotically compelling film filled with dark laughs and unanswered questions. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 8, 2018
It’s an expertly directed, slow-burning psychological horror film filled with outstanding performances. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijJan 29, 2017
Thankfully, Finley isn’t only adept at writing and directing good dialogue but he also understands how images and sounds can enhance his story. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganJan 29, 2017
Some zinging dialogue and pungent photography are complemented by the two young leads and the late Anton Yelchin in support. Read full review
79
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpMar 8, 2018
A sobering, beautiful movie that’ll haunt you for weeks after watching it. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 8, 2018
The debut feature by writer/director Cory Finley began as a script for stage, not screen, and that shines through in the intricate dance of dialogue. There's a hint of David Mamet in his use of strictly defined silences, and flat statements as heavy implications. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 14, 2018
It’s disquieting and then disturbing, almost from start to finish. Read full review
75
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerMar 10, 2018
While Finley’s film may be slim on any truly insightful commentary about what makes Amanda and Lily tick, that’s almost beside the point. Instead, this is a film about the fine lines separating civility from chaos, and how it only takes a tiny push to send you across when you’re close enough to it. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonMar 8, 2018
Cooke is particularly impressive, imbuing Amanda with a chilling misanthropy. Taylor-Joy plays Lily as a bit too sympathetic, but she nails the character’s cluelessness. And Yelchin, who died in 2016 at the age of 27, turns in a performance that’s as quirky as it is memorable. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 8, 2018
The late actor (Anton Yelchin) brings a sly wit and bruised conscience to the role that marks him again as a consummate actor and another reason that the feverishly hypnotic Thoroughbreds gets inside your head and stays there. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 8, 2018
Although there are a few missteps, the movie boasts a deliciously dark tone that makes for compelling viewing. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 8, 2018
For material that started out for the stage, Finley’s directorial debut really does feel like a movie. It’s elegant and well-plotted but not at the expense of the performances. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonMar 7, 2018
Finley ends with a poetic epilogue that draws themes into focus, and gives voice to them. I’m not sure the movie fully earns it, but it does grab and hold your attention, thanks to the frighteningly good rapport between Taylor-Joy and Cooke. Read full review
75
Washington PostPat PaduaMar 7, 2018
Yelchin’s performance — grizzled, neurotic — is sadly on-the-nose, making us feel as if we’re watching the last act of a troubled young man. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoMar 7, 2018
A story steeped in emotional remoteness manages to command our attention in Thoroughbreds, first-time filmmaker Cory Finley’s darkly satirical portrait of the young and disconnected in old-money Connecticut. Read full review
70
TheWrapInkoo KangMar 9, 2018
If you don’t mind your movies nasty, brutish, and slight, you couldn’t ask for a more delectable chocolate-covered razor blade. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Gayle MacDonaldMar 8, 2018
There is a Hitchcockian creepiness in Finley's mad-as-hell teen drama. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMar 8, 2018
Thoroughbreds often feels like a very, very expensive B-movie, but it’s all reasonably watchable, thanks to the elegant cinematography and Cooke’s amusing way of playing teenage amorality. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonMar 5, 2018
Cory Finley's screenplay is full of sharp, exactingly timed exchanges whose rat-a-tat rhythms exert a spellbinding pull, even if the dialogue at times comes off as artificial and mannered. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 12, 2018
It doesn’t have easy access to human emotion, instead deploying a series of techniques to fake it. Read full review
60
The AtlanticDavid SimsMar 9, 2018
For those seeking a wickedly dark little confection, Thoroughbreds should prove a diverting watch; but those looking for anything deeper will find a lot left to be desired. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisMar 8, 2018
For all the chatter and intrigue, Mr. Finley never settles on a point or theme. Read full review
58
The Film StageDaniel SchindelDec 13, 2017
Taylor-Joy and Cooke have a weird, comedic dynamic that could have put them in the canon of cinematic duos if the movie had been braver in pushing their relationship to darker territory. Ultimately, Thoroughbreds is a lot of potential with an anticlimactic payoff. Read full review
50
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJun 28, 2018
Thoroughbreds has a brazenness that’s promising, then, even if it also seems to be a bit too taken with its characters’ amorality. The movie works hard to make your eyes open wide, but doesn’t seem to realize that a squinting introspection can have its own sort of edge. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaMar 8, 2018
The flatness that is meant to shock early on quickly becomes boring, and the movie never sparks, slogging on in its nearly unbroken monotone all the way to its climactic moment. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerMar 7, 2018
That story proves paper thin, and requires believing Amanda is devoid of empathy yet devoted to Lily — concepts too at odds to be plausible together. Read full review
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