White Reindeer
IFC Films | Release Date: December 6, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
IndieWireEric KohnNov 19, 2013
White Reindeer eagerly pokes the mythology surrounding the holiday season narrative to find something hauntingly beautiful lurking beneath it. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy LodgeDec 12, 2013
This complex, compassionate film finds both wicked humor and, less expectedly, transcendent hope in America’s gaudy fixation with Christmas spirit. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 3, 2013
If White Reindeer's satirical elements feel off the rack, that's because what they're satirizing in our real lives is, too. Read full review
84
Film.comCalum MarshDec 9, 2013
White Reindeer concedes that much about Christmas is funny — its notions quaint, its fixtures cliched. But it proposes that beneath this sometimes lurid veneer lay something to cherish all the same. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisDec 20, 2013
Every time it threatens to devolve into sentimentality or cynicism, someone is there to take the reins. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasDec 2, 2013
What's dark and weird about Zach Clark's film is also what's tangible, authentic, and wise about it. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDec 19, 2013
Writer-director Clark's commitment to a deadpan vibe of crisp comic kink amid eccentric, left-turn sorrow can sometimes feel condescending. But within this not-so-jolly trip into the detailed recesses of simmering suburban emptiness, Hollyman takes this woman's barely controlled dignity on a quietly brave, revealing ride. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 6, 2013
White Reindeer is a deliberately awkward little movie, and it’s a hard one to shake. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 5, 2013
Mr. Clark finds unexpected heart amid cliché and frigidity. Read full review
70
The DissolveNathan RabinDec 3, 2013
The film executes its bad-taste gags with such delicacy and unexpected emotional truth that they don’t even seem like jokes. This is attributable largely to Hollyman’s fearless, convincing lead performance, which grounds the movie in a believable reality, no matter how crazy things become. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloDec 4, 2013
If nothing else, this is the least festive Christmas movie since "Bad Santa," dissecting the absurd belief that the holiday season can somehow magically cure all ills. Read full review
63
Boston GlobePeter KeoughDec 19, 2013
Writer-director Zach Clark doesn’t rise much above that level of subtlety in his lampoon of the phony goodwill and soulless commercialism of the Yuletide season. Luckily, he has a cast that elevates the puerility into genuine pathos and absurdity. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckDec 12, 2013
Despite its flaws and unevenness, White Reindeer at least deserves points for not providing another sugarplum-infused view of Christmas. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 5, 2013
Throughout, Hollyman rings true . She’s heartfelt, freaked-out and never too way out. Read full review
58
The PlaylistKatie WalshDec 5, 2013
An unprecedented take on the holiday film, but not an entirely successful one. Read full review
20
Time OutSam AdamsDec 3, 2013
Everything is tainted by a sneering sense of superiority. It’s like washing down Christmas dinner with rancid eggnog. Read full review
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