Cheap Thrills 2013

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: [A] shock-value thriller. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: This is not a movie for everybody, but that assessment is not exactly intended as a thumbs down. Alarming thrills are guaranteed. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Cynical, amoral, tense and superbly shot and performed. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: Cheap Thrills is a thoroughly nasty piece of work, which doubtless will be the strongest selling point for this worst-case scenario about steadily escalating dares and degradations. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: A fair amount of twisted fun, thanks mostly to a surprisingly, effectively low-key turn by Koechner as the game's emcee. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: To describe them would diminish their impact, but there are several occasions where it is tough to keep looking at the screen. Yet, thanks to the characters and their portrayals, you can't really look away, either. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Screenwriters David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga pose a simple question -- how much will a person degrade himself to make ends meet? -- but it's a potent one, at least for those of us who ponder it every Monday through Friday. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: One of the most involving works of cinematic misanthropy in years. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: If the way things wind up for Craig and Vince is perhaps inevitable, how they get there is not. As for the movie's audacious final shot, it's nothing short of iconic. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The simple, even sometimes simplistic script is helped a lot by its cast. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: A committed cast elevates what is, ultimately, a gimmicky thriller. It dissolves into a puddle of blood-tinged hypocrisy. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: You should watch it as a twisted comedy. Those who do will be rewarded, especially by the film's outlandish final image. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Let's just say it takes a dim view of human nature that seems well supported by the evidence, and that if you have an appetite for fatalistic, dirty-minded gore you won't be disappointed. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Dark, deeply disturbing and occasionally comic, Cheap Thrills puts a contemporary spin on the cinematic version of dare, pitting a mysterious guy with a wad of cash against a financially desperate pair of blue collars. Read more

Nigel Floyd, Time Out: There are satisfying echoes of Stephen King's sly black humour in this deliciously nasty comedy thriller. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Cheap Thrills is little more than low-budget torture porn for the doobie-addled dudebro contingent. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: By the end, Cheap Thrills too closely resembles the behavior it depicts. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: If Cheap Thrills ultimately does carry us along, it's due largely to Healy's performance and presence. Read more