53
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezA stunning, often flooring masterwork about desperation, writer/director Tim Sutton’s, “Donnybrook” is a brutal elegy for those living on the forgotten fringes of America.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonFilmmaker Tim Sutton elicits pitiless performances from Frank Grillo and Jamie Bell playing two very different criminals on a collision course, and the film exudes a grungy, B-movie ethos in keeping with its scrappy, resourceful characters.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorThe apocalyptic vision of the heartland created by Sutton and his cast (based on the novel by Frank Bill) is impressively convincing, even if the themes are often overstated and the film itself is very hard to watch.
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeFor Sutton — whose previous film, “Dark Night,” inspired by 2012’s Aurora megaplex shooting, made an austere statement about gun violence — Donnybrook marks a major step forward in both ambition and style.
- 63Slant MagazineChris BarsantiSlant MagazineChris BarsantiThe film knots several strands of new-millennium despair into something that very nearly approximates greatness in its first half.
- 50The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloHere, Sutton is working with actual characters, played by professional actors, and his instinct is to flatten them as much as possible.
- 48TheWrapWilliam BibbianiTheWrapWilliam BibbianiThe cynicism of Donnybrook is overpowering, but unfocused. It’s easy to see why some people would react strongly to its ugly tale of misery and violence, and yet without context and contrast, without making statements beyond “the world sure does suck,” Sutton’s film feels frustratingly hollow. It makes an impact but leaves no impression.
- 40The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeIt’s a pulpy slab of exploitation masquerading as an important treatise on the struggles faced by the working class in rural America, thumping us in the face with its shallow viewpoint until we beg for mercy. Or at least the credits.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichThe Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichSutton is aiming to make a grand statement about America's downtrodden, and he never lets you forget it.