Ten Thousand Saints 2015

Geoff Berkshire, Variety: Part teen romance, part awkward love triangle, part generational-clash portrait, and almost all powered by nostalgia ... Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: A movie featuring a teenage hero who spends most of his screen time watching from the sidelines, passively observing events that just sort of happen around him. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: It doesn't have a genuine moment. But even period authenticity would not compensate for cardboard characters and a contrived narrative. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The film shows all the earmarks of a story too heavily compressed; the complications among the entwined families pile up after a while, and the period milieu feels arbitrary. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Smart, sensitive, and accessible to both young and middle-aged viewers Read more

Michael Sragow, Los Angeles Times: "Ten Thousand Saints" pulsates with full-blooded supporting characters who create a tragic-absurd tapestry of decay and rebellion in the Ronald Reagan years, from depressed New England to volatile New York. It's too bad the center cannot hold. Read more

Katherine Pushkar, New York Daily News: The cast all do well with banal material that's beneath them, especially Emily Watson, as Eliza's mom, and Hawke, who's everyone's dope-smoking, curfew-less fantasy friend-Dad. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: A very fine film, full of quietly impressive performances and young characters who register as authentic. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: For a movie with extremely loud punk-rock music at its core, "Ten Thousand Saints" is a pleasantly low-key experience; it's a small-scale character drama about learning to live with loss. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Steinfeld is lovely, and sometimes heartrending, as a young woman whose independent swagger masks swirls of uncertainty. And Hawke, who becomes a better actor with each passing year, is marvelous ... Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Jude, our narrator, is paper thin. His most memorable qualities are his gangly frame and his bright blue eyes. Read more