85
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThe Long Day Closes posits its pubescent protagonist as a tiny camera absorbing and transforming the reality all around him.
- 100The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasA singularly beautiful nostalgia piece that radiates with love and sadness, and doesn’t extract one type of feeling from another. It’s a film of aching bittersweetness, impeccably realized, past perfect.
- 100Chicago TribuneJohn PetrakisChicago TribuneJohn PetrakisDavies has said that he loves the "poetry of the ordinary." In that sense, he doesn't just wax nostalgic about the good old days, but rather, he makes us question and reevaluate those things we may not remember so readily-not the general, but the specific.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterThe Long Day Closes is impressive in many ways. It may be a strange filmgoing experience, but its haunting imagery and sounds make it powerfully memorable. [24 May 1993]
- 80The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenA deeply personal film, and at times a touching one, it is a collection of fragments and memories artfully pieced into a quirky, captivating book of dreams.
- 80VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyStrength of Davies’ vision is the crux, and it holds the line to the final, confident fadeout.
- 60EmpireEmpireThough Davies says this is a celebration of what were the best years of his life — he had a doting mum, nice sisters, and school was apparently okay — you'd hate to see what he'd produce if he were depressed, for the overall mood is heavy and glum.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe Long Day Closes is very much the visual equivalent of a verse or a poem: beautiful images, but no narrative.
- 50Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezWhat The Long Day Closes lacks is a narrative thread, however slim, to match the perfectly realized setting and wonderful visuals Davies has crafted. The whole thing feels like a chapter of a much larger work, one that, if finished, would doubtless prove more intriguing than what we get here. [7 Aug 1993, p.G5]