83
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJames White looks like a simple film on its surface.... But despite the vérité-influenced stylization, writer-director Mond (whose own struggle with loss likely inspired some of this story) doesn’t seem too interested in realism or grit.
- 100RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJames White is a masterful examination of how our behavior and the excuses we make about our lives fall away under certain, life-changing conditions.
- 91The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurraySo James White’s title character is an entitled, self-centered a--hole. But the movie about him is still a marvel: an honest, moving, and occasionally even funny portrait of what happens when a cripplingly immature young man gets hit with one reality check after another.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMond's skill at working with actors is equal to his fully developed visual style and assured modulation of atmosphere and tone. This may be a small movie, but it's an impressively rigorous one without an ounce of flab.
- 80The GuardianDamon WiseThe GuardianDamon WiseWhen Abbot and Nixon start their sparring, Mond’s film takes on a magnificently physical and tactile quality.
- 80VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasFamiliar in its general trajectory, but unusually raw and ragged in its emotional architecture, Mond’s fraught portrait of a mother and son in crisis sports a pair of knockout performances by Cynthia Nixon and “Girls” alumnus Christopher Abbott.
- 75The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezMond’s film doesn’t feature traditional structure or many familiar character beats of self-improvement, but as a visceral, in-the-moment portrait of struggle and suffering, it’s a striking first film.
- 75Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoIt confronts the hard realities of a world in which few make it to maturity without their share of scars, and no one makes it out of adulthood alive.
- 70Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekWhen James White really digs in, it's an affecting portrait of grief and of feeling lost in life.