55
Metascore
24 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMcClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreI like the way writer-director Kat Candler, expanding a short film she made a few years back, doesn’t give away the whole back-story — what killed the mother, who might have been to blame.
- 60VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeMore sensitive than sensational, Candler’s debut doesn’t add much in the way of insight to the juvenile delinquency genre, but boasts a stunning breakthrough performance from newcomer Josh Wiggins as the troublemaker in question.
- 60Village VoiceChuck WilsonVillage VoiceChuck WilsonHellion offers Paul his most adult screen role so far, and he's very fine, but the movie belongs to Wiggins, a newcomer whose innate gifts are a perfect echo of Paul's.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichHellion aims to cut deep, striking a tone that melds the hysterical moralism of Larry Clark’s Kids (1995) with the coming-of-age melancholy of Mud’s Jeff Nichols (also this film’s executive producer).
- 50The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezAdmittedly heartbreaking and moving in its final moments, Hellion just can’t quite convince or coalesce its ideas of struggle, pain and fury in a meaningful or new way.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe actors' raw honesty and the unvarnished authenticity of the Southeast Texas environment lend weight to this slow-burn drama about responsibility, even if its storytelling is unrelentingly downbeat and lacks muscularity.
- 50Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasSlant MagazineDavid Lee DallasBoth film and protagonist are troubled works in progress that shuffle and meander and frequently falter, but occasionally sing.
- 50The DissolveNoel MurrayThe DissolveNoel MurrayHellion lingers for most of its running time in a betwixt-and-between place, never becoming either the sublime character sketch or the overripe melodrama it alternately promises to be.
- 50The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyOccasionally, the viewer gets the sense that the camera’s jittery swaying is meant to draw attention from the film’s clunkiness. Fragrance is a poor substitute for depth.