59
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeScripted, directed and acted with intelligence and panache, it’s a very grown-up film but never a bore, a morally alert drama that leaves the scolding to us.
- 83IndieWireRyan LattanzioIndieWireRyan LattanzioWhile this nasty film seems headed toward a conclusion where the rich win and the status quo is maintained, that’s abruptly shattered by a violent climax that assures that no one on either side of the divide is left without a bloodstain.
- 81TheWrapSteve PondTheWrapSteve PondDark and unsettling, The Forgiven doesn’t ask us to like its characters, but it forces us to watch as privilege begins to shatter and people for whom everything feels inconsequential have to deal with consequences.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeMcDonagh’s characters are more complex than the initial caricatures make them out to be — perhaps, in the end, even pitiful — leaving audiences to decide how they feel about their ultimate fates.
- 70SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaThe Forgiven runs the risk of becoming a thoughtless movie about a vile white man who is taught a lesson by wise brown people, but McDonagh, who also wrote the script, manages to (mostly) avoid that with a subtle touch.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeThe film’s strange scrappy indefinability is both its blessing and curse. We’re left with pieces, interesting on their own and sometimes together, but not quite enough to complete the puzzle.
- 60Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe storytelling ends up a little too murky to be the grand commentary on privilege and exploitation McDonagh intends.
- 60Vanity FairRichard LawsonVanity FairRichard LawsonChastain pulls focus whenever she can, operating as one of the film’s main resources of levity and acerbic bite. I wish the movie had more of that energy—McDonagh keeps the proceedings oddly muted given the circumstances—but at least Chastain is there, pepping things up a bit.
- 58The PlaylistJason BaileyThe PlaylistJason BaileyMcDonagh is such a smart writer that one spends much of the movie waiting for his script to exhibit some awareness of the trope, and to comment on it, but that acknowledgment never arrives – and as a result, this is his thinnest screenplay to date, flimsy enough that, in a lesser actor’s hands, it could really fall apart.
- 50Slant MagazineMark HansonSlant MagazineMark HansonWhatever satire of white elite society is intended by The Forgiven has been blunted by monotony.