Yardie
Rialto Pictures | Release Date: March 15, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatBradley GibsonMar 14, 2019
Yardie is a ripping classic gangster tale done right, but that’s only part of the appeal. It goes beyond the narrative into full cultural immersion with music as the window into a time and place. Read full review
80
CineVueZoe MargolisSep 2, 2018
Overall this is a remarkable debut from Elba, and it makes for an engaging, captivating watch. Read full review
76
IGNWilliam BibbianiMar 14, 2019
Idris Elba’s directorial debut is an atmospheric and catchy DJ Noir about criminals who’d rather spin vinyl than sell cocaine, and it’s an impressive first film, only held back by the conventions in the plot. But it’s the details of Yardie’s world that make it worth visiting. Read full review
67
The PlaylistTed PillowMar 15, 2019
Elba’s debut doesn’t belong to the upper echelon of films from well-known actors stepping behind the camera – it holds your attention, but it’s never as gripping as the material should be. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMar 14, 2019
Yardie is a sprawling drug-world saga, but whatever narrative flaws it has are helped out by an infectious selection of dub-heavy reggae tracks and an authentically gritty sense of period and place. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonMar 15, 2019
Elba’s skills as a helmer are not yet as refined as his considerable acting chops, but his firsthand knowledge of London’s Hackney borough gives the film a lived-in feeling, a sense of intimacy that registers onscreen in both quiet and violent moments. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanMar 14, 2019
It’s all kiss-kiss, bang-bang and backstabbing, with a twist that, while effective, leads to a denouement of questionable — and not entirely satisfying — moral reckoning. In some ways, Yardie plays out like a film noir, but with a strangely sweet ending, and without that genre’s deliciously bitter aftertaste. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 12, 2019
By incorporating a strong Jamaican flavor and infusing the mix with reggae and dance, Elba provides something more interesting than the standard tale of gang warfare and drug deals that forms Yardie’s skeleton. However, although these unique elements form an effective distraction, their ability to captivate wears thin, exposing the threadbare, overfamiliar story that struggles mightily to keep viewers engaged. Read full review
60
EmpireJimi FamurewaSep 3, 2018
Neither a luridly enjoyable piece of Scarface-style pulp or a nuanced genre subversion, Idris Elba’s directorial debut is a fitfully entertaining 1980s gangster thriller. Read full review
60
The GuardianMike McCahillSep 2, 2018
A debut of unarguable promise, though – plenty to build on if Elba can resist the adolescent lure of running round with 007’s PPK. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonMar 14, 2019
In the end, a coherent tone eludes Elba, but he shows promise as a scene-setter, and the movie displays an effective use of color. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 14, 2019
Headley’s book is a hard nugget crackling with urgency. This feels like soft-boiled pulp. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 14, 2019
John Conroy’s cinematography hustles and heaves, straining to inject a vitality that the story too often lacks. Yet whether in the kaleidoscopic warmth of Jamaica or the gray chill of London, Yardie’s sunlight-filled songs will make your toes twitch. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinMar 14, 2019
Elba brings care to the film’s performances, period look and musical elements. But the freeze frames, needless voice-over bits and stalled narrative momentum undercut the picture’s potential power and uniqueness. Read full review
47
TheWrapYolanda MachadoMar 15, 2019
There’s no question that Elba is a talented actor, but his debut on the other side of the lens falls a bit short. Director needs to make decisions to get a story across, and Elba appears to have been too shy or too reluctant to make them. Yardie suffers for it. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Simran HansSep 2, 2018
An over-explanatory voiceover seems to indicate a lack of confidence in the script’s jumbled plotting and laggy pacing. The performances aren’t bad (Ameen’s charisma eclipses the expositional dialogue), but the stakes feel low and the characters gangster-movie generic. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithMar 9, 2019
The film’s tendency to break the “show, don’t tell” directive becomes especially irksome in its homestretch. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 13, 2019
The story, based on a novel by Victor Headley, is pointless and occasionally ridiculous. And the movie is hardly helped by a protagonist that we’re expected to care about, even as he does an unending series of colossally stupid, violent and self-destructive things. Read full review
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