Synopsis
Kyle and Swin live by the orders of an Arkansas-based drug kingpin named Frog, whom they've never met. But when a deal goes horribly wrong, the consequences are deadly.
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Cast
- Liam HemsworthKyle
- Clark DukeSwin
- Vince VaughnFrog
- John MalkovichBright
- Eden BrolinJohanna
- Vivica A. FoxHer
- Michael Kenneth WilliamsAlmond
- Patrick MuldoonJoe
- Jacob ZacharStranger
- Juston StreetBarry
Recommendations
- 70
Variety
Not everything here works, including some lead casting. But this daylight noir should please viewers willing to roll along with a crime meller more interested in character quirks than action thrills. - 68
TheWrap
While it’s hard to watch Arkansas and not see its debt to the Coen brothers, Duke finds a voice of his own in quiet, deadpan absurdities and southern-fried eccentricities. - 67
The Film Stage
The film bills itself as a suspense thriller due to the predicament Kyle and Swin must eventually try to escape, but it works best as a comedy using that narrative drama to entertain regardless of the stakes. - 67
The A.V. Club
While Arkansas is a promising and often very entertaining first feature, Duke doesn’t combine these borrowed ingredients—excellent though they are—into a fully realized original story, with its own personality. - 63
Slant Magazine
The film’s insistence on keeping the stakes low throughout is probably its key strength. - 60
Rolling Stone
What does matter, besides the collection of deranged characters who can’t escape their limitations, is the southern-fried atmosphere so resonantly captured by DP Steven Meizler (Contagion). - 50
Chicago Tribune
Arkansas doesn't break the mold on cheeky, stylish, low-life movies; rather, it worships it. - 50
RogerEbert.com
That kind of gallow’s humor defines the surface tone of Arkansas, which often feels like a riff on “Breaking Bad,” only now it’s more about how sad it is to be poor white trash.
