White Girl
FilmRise | Release Date: September 2, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistAndrew CrumpFeb 17, 2016
It’s exciting as a raw, provocative, and vividly realized cinema of sensation. Wood doesn’t invite us to observe White Girl so much as she invites us to involve ourselves in its drama. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 8, 2016
The story floats along like an intoxicating cloud of vice — an effect that Wood achieves with a throbbing, surging soundtrack and an alternately propulsive and hypnotic sense of camera movement. By the time the sensory rush dissipates and the hangover sets in, only Wood’s sharply observant social critique remains. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenSep 1, 2016
We’re all familiar with the term contact high, but not with its antithesis. Because it is so believable, White Girl is a contact bummer that’s hard to shake. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyJoey NolfiSep 1, 2016
Somewhere between Catherine Hardwicke’s "Thirteen" and Harmony Korine’s "Spring Breakers" lies the rebellious mood of Elizabeth Wood’s White Girl, a Sundance firecracker that easily finds its place among the cinematic canon of great dramas cut from the good-girl-gone-bad cloth. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 29, 2016
Elizabeth Wood’s fire-breathing debut is an adrenalized shot of ecstasy and entitlement, a fully committed cautionary tale that’s able to follow through on its premise because — like the remarkable young actress who plays its heroine — the film is unafraid of being utterly loathsome. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushE. Oliver WhitneyAug 30, 2016
Unafraid to expose her character's weaknesses and degradation, White Girl establishes Wood as a brazen new talent to watch. Read full review
80
The GuardianLanre BakareFeb 17, 2016
Buttons will definitely be pushed by White Girl, but after the moral panic hopefully people will still be talking about the film itself. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerSep 29, 2016
Saylor has created a character who will haunt you for some time after you leave the theater. Read full review
75
Washington PostPat PaduaSep 8, 2016
White Girl vividly charts what is at times a violent culture clash. But it is the young lovers’ desperate attempt to bridge the gap between their worlds that makes the film so deeply moving. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 15, 2016
Wood’s terrific direction and an outstanding performance by Morgan Saylor make it an involving cautionary tale. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinFeb 17, 2016
Seductive and repellent by turns, it’s a title that will provoke fierce love-or-hate reactions, but there’s no question it augurs the arrival of a powerful, audacious new directorial talent. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiSep 14, 2016
Playing out like some bizarro hardcore version of an episode of "Girls," Wood’s feature debut infuses a hefty dose of white privilege mixed with more than a sprinkling of gender politics, all wrapped up in a sleazy, sweaty, strung-out package that wants, no, needs you to react to the various bad decisions every character makes. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 1, 2016
Is there anything less shocking than a movie that thinks it's shocking? See White Girl and discuss — and you should see it, if only for the all-stops-out performance of Morgan Saylor. Read full review
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