57
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Total FilmTotal FilmWith largely improvised dialogue and a cast including genuine ex-offenders, Chapiron captures a powerful stench of authenticity.
- 63Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierSlant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierThe plot willfully denies our satisfaction, often at the risk of compromising its own structural integrity.
- 60The GuardianXan BrooksThe GuardianXan BrooksPerhaps this tells us nothing new about life on the inside in the US (there are rapes, riots and suicides), but it at least handles its brief with pace and precision.
- 60The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisKim Chapiron, proves an excellent choreographer of brutality...But without a strong political point (unlike its source material), Dog Pound feels hollow and hopeless.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckAlthough it has a visceral intensity, this teen-centered prison movie doesn't avoid the familiar tropes of its genre.
- 40EmpireEmpireVisceral and inquisitive, this well researched movie offers a punchy insight to prison life. Unfortunately, it is a familiar and tepid storyline.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearDog Pound only rarely finds the live-wire energy needed to make up for its amateur cast and staunch adherence to well-worn archetypes: cell-block bullies, sadistic guards, fresh-fish innocents, etc. Neither the film’s bark nor its bite leaves much of a mark.