57
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 85Film Journal InternationalGary M. KramerFilm Journal InternationalGary M. KramerLaurent’s film is gripping throughout. The filmmaker shrewdly frames each scene to convey the characters’ loneliness and isolation without being too obvious.
- What we are left with is far from a perfect film, but Laurent is a confident director who elevates the pulpy plot of Pizzolato’s novel into a unique reflection of characters on the margins of society. It, also, probably doesn’t hurt that she has Foster and Fanning at the top of their game to deliver the material.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeLaurent walks between pulpy suspense and a more serious grimness as she presents the action.
- 67The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThis latest film isn’t entirely successful — Pizzolatto’s book stubbornly resists first-time screenwriter Jim Hammett’s efforts to reshape its narrative for the screen — but it confirms Laurent as a significant talent behind the lens, particularly adept at building queasy tension.
- 67IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichIt takes far too long for Galveston to emerge from the novocaine of its various clichés and allow us to feel the tender flesh that bleeds across every scene of this seedy road noir, but — in fairness to director Mélanie Laurent — some filmmakers are never able to break the leathered skin of a Nic Pizzolatto story.
- 60Film ThreatHunter LanierFilm ThreatHunter LanierWith characters that we watch but never know and some imitative storytelling, Galveston can’t help but feel like a compilation of cover songs, which, while listenable, are stilted and perfunctory.
- 50The Film StageJohn FinkThe Film StageJohn FinkFoster and Fanning are predictably great together, cut from the same bayou cloth, both doing what they must to get by, but the script gives them too little to work from. Instead, there’s only enough material for a few touching, if not heavy-handed moments along the way.
- 50Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonThe film is a slow, directionless anti-thriller that never manages to build tension or establish any stakes.
- 40The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergWith shadowy imagery that pushes the boundaries of visibility and a mumbly lead performance from Ben Foster that strains the limits of intelligibility, Galveston goes past film noir and lands at film murk.
- 20New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNew York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriThe pitch-black and paper-thin Galveston not only fails to find a way to reinvent, or at least refresh, that old tired idea, it also piles a few more tired ideas on top of it.