Wild Rose
Neon | Release Date: June 21, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 26, 2019
To its great credit, the movie turns left when you expect it to turn right, taking a route that is less well traveled, yet more plausible. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshJun 26, 2019
Despite all the limitations on her life, Rose-Lynn is one of the most free-spirited creatures to ever be put on film. Read full review
100
Original-CinKim HughesJun 20, 2019
Wild Rose may not be what the summer season typically delivers to cinemas, but audiences miss it at their peril. Read full review
91
TheWrapYolanda MachadoJun 13, 2019
Ultimately, of course, it’s Buckley who makes Rose-Lynn soar off the screen. It’s a dazzling, raw, intoxicating performance, and when she sings, it’s simply electric. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinApr 10, 2019
Pure dead gallus (that's Scots for 'wonderful'). Read full review
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanApr 10, 2019
Wild Rose, the closest thing to a sleeper I’ve seen at Toronto this year, is a happy-sad drama of starstruck fever that lifts you up and sweeps you along, touching you down in a puddle of well-earned tears. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJul 11, 2019
The movie is like an old honky-tonk song, a little sentimental but full of heart. It torches and twangs without getting too hokey. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerGary ThompsonJul 8, 2019
The script is shrewd about the problems that money can and can’t solve. Wild Rose also threads the needle between the genre expectations and its own brand of realism, grounded in the very palpable heartache Rose feels as she tries to survive in the space between her family obligations and her artistic ambitions. Read full review
85
The AtlanticDavid SimsJun 19, 2019
That Rose-Lynn is an onstage force is easy to tell from the second she picks up a microphone, but Taylor makes this film less about her gift than about the maturity she needs to take it beyond the local Glasgow pubs. As a result, the film’s melancholy but uplifting closing notes land that much more powerfully. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJun 19, 2019
As a show-business fairytale, Wild Rose is pretty standard. But as a character study, it’s something special. That’s due largely to Buckley’s star-making performance as Rose-Lynn. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJun 24, 2019
As Rose-Lynn, stomping along in white cowboy boots, she is ballsy and fiery, at once wised up and dangerously immature. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 21, 2019
Ms. Buckley brings her own truth to this mostly synthetic confection, and it’s a beautiful thing to behold. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekJun 20, 2019
When Rose-Lynn opens her mouth to sing–her speaking voice has a Glaswegian burr, but her singing voice is all Tennessee–you’re wheedled into forgetting her flaws and sins and wanting only the best for her and her kids Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 20, 2019
The screenwriter, Nicole Taylor, and the director, Tom Harper, compose their story in clean, stirring melodic lines that they return to again and again, treating Rose-Lynn’s many setbacks — as well as her small, crucial steps toward growth and self-discovery — like subtle variations on a refrain. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 19, 2019
This classically trained Irish singer and actress was a runner-up on a BBC singing competition and won roles in film (Beast) and TV (War and Peace, HBO’s Chernobyl). She’s a skyrocketing talent — and the full range of her gifts are on display here. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgApr 22, 2019
Wild Rose is one of those films that you have to hunt for, and it’s well worth the effort. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeApr 15, 2019
Jessie Buckley, who proved so electrifying in Michael Pearce’s psychological thriller Beast, lights up the screen as Rose-Lynn Harlan; a 23-year-old firebrand, fresh out of jail, wearing an electronic tag beneath white cowgirl boots. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyApr 11, 2019
Landing the perfect ending is a challenge for any such story; A Star is Born, for all its guts and pathos, peaked early. Wild Rose holds its horses, and lets Rose-Lynn soar only when she’s worked out who she is. Read full review
80
Time OutMark SalisburyApr 10, 2019
Buckley, so good in serial-killer thriller ‘Beast’, is sensational here. Read full review
80
EmpireTerri WhiteApr 10, 2019
Jessie Buckley impresses again in the story of a woman who wants and needs so much more. A seemingly well-worn narrative becomes a more interesting look at the responsibilities and rights of being a mother with a dream. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 19, 2019
A vivid, estrogen-charged charmer, a winning twist on “chasing your dream” and “You can have it all” with just enough sober slapdowns to keep it honest. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla MeyerJun 26, 2019
Buckley’s naturalism, combined with her abundant charisma and wonderfully warm-toned, slightly gritty singing voice, make her irresistible here. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJun 21, 2019
Director Tom Harper (War & Peace) aptly conveys the single-mindedness that a life of art requires, and the double standard applied to the women who pursue it at the cost of other, seemingly more essential things. But it’s Buckley, wild and free, who makes the movie sing. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 20, 2019
We’re watching Buckley electrify the screen today. May her voice rattle in your head for the rest of the year. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 20, 2019
No matter how contrived or hackneyed things get, Buckley’s voice always breaks through the clouds like some kind of divine revelation. And that voice only gets more powerful when Wild Rose finally gives it something to say. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartJun 19, 2019
The scrappy striver narrative may be an overly familiar one at this point, but director Tom Harper (the BBC’s “War & Peace”) gets a terrific performance from Buckley as Rose chases her dreams while living the kind of turbulent life that has always inspired the best of country songs. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJun 16, 2019
Tom Harper’s film empathetically probes the growing pains of self-improvement. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJun 22, 2019
The final sequence dodges (or elides) many of the movie’s central logistical dilemmas, but the song (“Glasgow,” written by Mary Steenburgen, Caitlyn Smith, and Kate York) and the performance are so rousing it almost doesn’t matter. Like the best country music, the movie finds its own kind of truth. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJun 20, 2019
First and foremost, the movie, written by Nicole Taylor and directed by Tom Harper, is a superb showcase for Jessie Buckley. Doing her own singing, Buckley is a rich, startling vocalist who if anything seems to under-excite the crowds she performs for. Read full review
67
The Film StageChristopher SchobertJun 21, 2019
In the rare moments when this just becomes a film about a woman who loves country music with every fiber of her being, it separates itself and becomes far more than just another story about a star being born. Read full review
60
CineVueAlasdair BaymanApr 11, 2019
Wild Rose fits the bill for a British indie, yet apart from Buckley’s radiance it sadly does not offer anything more or less. Comparable to Lady Macbeth and Florence Pugh’s break out performance, this really does feel like the moment the world stands up and recognises Buckley’s talents. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 10, 2019
Buckley provides a vitamin boost in every scene. Read full review
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