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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
20
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews
The GuardianNov 10, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Blick’s script is as spare and gorgeous as the landscape. If he could have spent some of the time afforded the plot machinations on interrogating more intensively the myths of the Old West, the colonial impulse, the difference between retribution and justice and the other questions his western raises, the ambition that is everywhere in it would have been even more gloriously realised. But it remains a sweepingly wonderful thing.
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The Daily BeastNov 9, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It is not an easy watch by any stretch of the imagination. Perhaps that’s what makes the payoff so sizable. Despite its near-insurmountable density, The English ends six protracted hours as one of the year’s most memorable series, thanks largely in part to its astounding two leads. ... This is Blick’s bleeding-hearted love letter to the genre, and by its end, The English join the ranks of the grandest entries ever made.
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The PlaylistNov 8, 2022
Season 1 Review:
There are some slightly contrived overlapping moments and one particular narrative choice I found unnecessary. Still, on the whole, Blick’s intertwined story of the brutality and redemptive possibilities of the American West nearing the turn of the century is a gripping and memorable adventure.
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Nov 11, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It’s rare to see a variation on the theme achieve the depth and poignance of The English. ... The story of Cornelia and Eli is a different kind of lie; it’s a fiction, and one whose sentimentality in later installments of the six-episode series barely undermines its beauty as a counter-narrative. Violent, macabre, and in many ways tragic, The English doesn’t deny what we know about what really happened when cultures collided on the frontier. Instead, it finds beauty in imagining how different people in the same situation, driven by purer motives and united by trust, might have built something better.
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IndieWireNov 10, 2022
Season 1 Review:
“The English” outlines at least one theory: Bloodshed is the American way, and so is believing we can put it behind us. Blick’s explanation is nestled somewhere within the connection between its graceful aesthetics and ruthless inclinations, its sweeping romance and star-crossed lovers, its white flags and red ones.
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ColliderNov 7, 2022
Season 1 Review:
The English resonates with its gritty, lived-in atmosphere, and it never loses sight of the humanity at the heart of this tragic tale. No matter how brutal, how bloody, how blistering the quest for vengeance and reclamation is, the unbreakable bonds forged between characters remain center stage.
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Nov 8, 2022
Nov 8, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Blunt is fantastic, as are many of her co-stars. The whole thing looks gorgeous, and it has some thoughtful variations on Blick’s pet theme about what happens when people from one culture get mixed up in the affairs of another. But despite a seemingly straightforward revenge plot, its storytelling frequently turns too complicated for its own good. ... Despite that, the leads and most of the supporting players are just so much fun to watch, as is the show as a whole.
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The TelegraphOct 18, 2022
Season 1 Review:
There is too much speechifying in a style that brings to mind the films of Quentin Tarantino. For the above reasons, you might be tempted to give up on it after the first episode. I certainly was. But I’d recommend that you persevere. It unfolds into an operatic tale of revenge and romance set against the backdrop of a lawless American West in the late 19th century.
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Nov 11, 2022
Season 1 Review:
For three blissfully bleak episodes, The English comes off like a classic odyssey, less focused on the eventual destination than the windblown stops along the way. And then the wheels start to come off. ... Still, it's worth sticking with The English just for the lead performances.
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Nov 9, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Blunt and Spencer are almost enough to keep you invested. While the show certainly loses some steam nearly every time it meanders into another subplot, it does manage to include some interesting characters along the way. ... But the overall story is disjointed and convoluted. This is a revisionist Western that may scratch a specific itch while never really turning into the bolder show it aims to be.
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Nov 7, 2022
Season 1 Review:
The connections between its diffuse narrative strands remain murky for much of its running time, making the proceedings feel scattered, unfocused, and incoherent. Few things, however, are clearer than love and revenge—and the relationship between Cornelia and Eli achieves far greater acuity than the developments that surround it.
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Nov 9, 2022
Season 1 Review:
There are hints of an in-depth, poignant tale hidden within The English, as Eli and Cornelia struggle with retaining parts of their identities after experiencing tragedy. But the show so explicitly wants to establish its Western atmosphere that the plot becomes an afterthought.
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Nov 10, 2022
Nov 14, 2022
Season 1 Review:
The series features gorgeous cloud-specked skies and sweeping horizons in what feels like an homage to John Ford westerns. But most of those elements (including the aforementioned dialogue) feel assembled in such a self-conscious and heavy handed way as to blunt the tribute, making it difficult to discern for whom this exercise is intended, other than creating a TV vehicle to bring Blunt’s marquee name to Amazon’s content-hungry shelves.
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Nov 12, 2022
Season 1 Review:
If “The English” had spent less time reveling in wicked behavior and more time developing the story of Eli and Cornelia, it might have forged a narrative strong enough to justify sitting through the butchery. ... “The English” is populated with an impressive cast, particularly boldfaced names of Great Britain and Ireland like Blunt, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones and Stephen Rea. Unfortunately their talent is not enough to save this miniseries from its overwhelming obsession with the myths that make the Old West a violent playground for the imagination.
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