63
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeThere’s no clumsy exposition here to explain motivations but delicately scattered crumbs involving status, family and the crippling strain of competitive masculinity.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanEntertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanThere isn’t much room for nuance in his script, and the movie’s darkness (literally: too many poorly lit nighttime scenes are more heard than seen) undermines its message. But there’s something powerful even in its predictability.
- 75RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzRogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzBurning Sands, Gerald McMurray's feature filmmaking debut, is one of the fresher entries, thanks mainly to its setting: a historically black fraternity on a historically black campus like Howard, the university where the co-writer and director got his degree.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThe occasional heavy-handed or clumsy elements don’t seriously impair a film whose high spirits, talented cast and luridly intriguing subject consistently entertain, even if they seldom truly surprise.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyFirst-time director McMurray, who worked as an associate producer on Fruitvale Station, does a decent job of staging the action and maintaining viewer attention on the straight-line story. But there’s no subtext, investigation of his characters’ various stories or motivations for doing what they’re doing. It’s a very shallow film.
- 50Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenIn the absence of a more dramatically dynamic approach to that awfully familiar subject matter, “Burning Sands” proves neither as incendiary nor as challenging as intended.