Synopsis
After a violent encounter, Roy finds Rocky and sees something in her eyes that prompts a fateful decision. He takes her with him as he flees to Galveston, an action as ill-advised as it is inescapable.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Ben FosterRoy Cady
- Elle FanningRocky
- Beau BridgesStan Ptitko
- Lili ReinhartOlder Tiffany
- Adepero OduyeLoraine
- Robert AramayoTray
- María ValverdeCarmen
- C.K. McFarlandNancy
- Michael Ray EscamillaAngelo
- Jeffrey GroverDoctor Finelli
Recommendations
- 85
Film Journal International
Laurent’s film is gripping throughout. The filmmaker shrewdly frames each scene to convey the characters’ loneliness and isolation without being too obvious. - 75
The Playlist
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. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Laurent walks between pulpy suspense and a more serious grimness as she presents the action. - 67
The A.V. Club
This 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. - 67
IndieWire
It 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. - 60
Film Threat
With 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. - 50
The Film Stage
Foster 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. - 50
Slant Magazine
The film is a slow, directionless anti-thriller that never manages to build tension or establish any stakes.
