Blue Ruin 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Saulnier is also a cinematographer, and he's in complete control of the film's conflation of human-scale horror and tragicomedy. Read more

Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly: With the same brand of realist irony the Coens used to cool down Blood Simple, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier slows the genre's heartbeat to gripping effect. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Sparse of dialogue, terrifically ominous and full of low-key, high-quality performances, "Blue Ruin" is a vigilante tale even haters like me can get behind. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Blair, an unheralded actor, carries the whole picture. He's in practically every scene, and his performance is fascinating because in his eyes you can see the character struggling desperately with himself. Read more

William Goss, MSN Movies: The violence is unfailingly nasty, the humor suitably dark, and the human center holds due to Dwight's endearingly short-sighted, continually fallible, yet understandably just mission against those who squandered his own happiness decades before. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: A lean and suspenseful genre piece that follows a bloody trail of vengeance to its cruel, absurd and logical conclusion. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Blue Ruin is as visually striking as one might expect a film helmed by a talented cinematographer to be. But Saulnier has more than a great eye; he's got the soul of a natural filmmaker ... Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: "Blue Ruin" is a movie about revenge, but it reaches far past the bottom-shelf titillations of fantasy to tell a richer, character-driven story with a protagonist who's less avenging angel than ghost. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Saulnier makes impressive use of silence and slow camera movements, allowing the suspense to simmer until violence seems practically inevitable. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A riveting revenge thriller written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier and built around a singular performance by Macon Blair. Read more

David Ehrlich, Film.com: A feral and staggeringly well-conceived revenge saga. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Odd revenge genre low-budgeter keeps the tradition of revenge killing all too alive. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: "Blue Ruin" is an uneven film, and there are slip-ups along the way, but the tension that settles in slowly like a low-grade fever keeps you with it. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: As an action film - which, in small bursts, it is - Blue Ruin is disquieting and raw, like Commando turned inside out. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Saulnier spills a lot of blood, but he's an extraordinarily responsible and appealing craftsman. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Director Jeremy Saulnier has worked largely as a cinematographer, and "Blue Ruin" is marked by careful compositions and lighting. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: Blue Ruin succeeds on the strength of Saulnier's skill at slowly escalating the tension, even with a would-be action protagonist who is almost comically inept. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A real trip. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Mocking vigilante violence while slapping it on in gorgeous splatters, "Blue Ruin" is little more than an archipelago of attacks and retaliations that pay off only in blood spilled and vendetta advanced. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: A gory instant-classic cult film about a maladroit revenge killer. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: To call Blue Ruin a revenge thriller is to sell this barbed-wire-sharp and altogether surprising American indie short. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It's a brilliant, slow-burning American revenge thriller that hardly puts a foot wrong, a work of startling violence and profound conscience that announces the arrival of an exciting young director. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: The filmmaker works with economy and has a knack for creating a sense of foreboding, which is good because the plot is simply a working out of the old saw that violence begets violence. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Blue Ruin's fierce narrative momentum derives from the inexorable logic of eye-for-an-eye reciprocity. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A ripping-good revenge flick with a radically simple premise ... Read more

Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times: You couldn't ask for a more unlikely avenger than the ill-equipped sort-of hero of Blue Ruin, and that's precisely why it's far, far more suspenseful than the typical violent revenge thriller. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: Blair is excellent in the lead, but the filmmaking is the true star here. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Not much is said, but much is communicated in a blood-soaked film that acts as its own accuser. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: It's a taut, unflinching first act ... But as the bodies pile up and the plot circles in on itself, that beautifully constructed web of suspense begins to unravel. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Blue Ruin is the rare film that is nearly consistently tense, the suspense only temporarily subsiding about an hour into the story. It's a welcome respite. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Blue Ruin is more artful and evocative than any recent revenge picture, but it's still drivel. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The world doesn't need another empty genre exercise. But as Blue Ruin reminds us, it can always use more filmmakers of Saulnier's resourcefulness, sensitivity and quiet assurance. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: As an exercise in cinematic style, "Blue Ruin" is well worth seeing. Read more