Synopsis
Strife and disaster befall a poor Mississippi family during a two-day trip by horse and wagon to bury their deceased matriarch.
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Cast
- James FrancoDarl Bundren
- Danny McBrideVernon Tull
- Logan Marshall-GreenJewel
- Ahna O'ReillyDewey Dell
- Jim ParrackCash
- Tim Blake NelsonAnse
- Beth GrantAddie Bundren
- Jennifer Kristen HowellCora Tull
- Brady PermenterVardaman Bundren
- Natalie MintonKate Tull
Recommendations
- 83
IndieWire
The film seems to have been made to suggest something of Faulkner's style in a cinematic medium, and it's certainly laudable that there have been very few concessions to the marketability of a project like this. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Franco, employing diverse cinematic techniques from split screen (mostly early on) to direct-to-camera address, makes the Bundrens’ time of trial more immediately coherent than it is on the page without disrespecting Faulkner’s oblique style. - 63
Slant Magazine
James Franco's readiness in approaching famously abstract source material certainly doesn't translate well into his directorial formalism, or, more appropriately, lack of formalism. - 60
The Guardian
Franco's As I Lay Dying is a worthwhile movie, approached in an intelligent and creative spirit. The ensemble work from the actors is generally very strong, with a star turn from Nelson as the prematurely aged patriarch, and the story is presented lucidly and confidently. - 60
Variety
Franco offers up a competently acted, technically adequate Cliff Notes take on Faulkner’s narratively refracted tale of dirt-poor Mississippi folk in mourning. - 50
The Playlist
As I Lay Dying is another Franco lark that is more of an experiment with form than a fully realized movie. One almost gets the sense that Franco is working out ideas with As I Lay Dying, with the goal of creating a cohesive film as a secondary ambition to simply capturing the feel of Faulkner's prose. - 50
The A.V. Club
Like Franco’s other directorial efforts, it ends up coming across as an academic art object, somewhere halfway between a graduate thesis and a video installation—interesting, but only in context. - 40
Time Out
They quickly smother whatever greatness was inherent in the material. Faulkner’s vivid, tragic and tender world is nowhere to be found here, and it's a deal breaker by any other name.
