47
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- Shooting in dull, wintry colours, the mood is set for a story that can only end badly.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeA promising if not quite audacious debut by Robin Pront, the film benefits from a solidly envisioned family dynamic but doesn't really generate much heat until its final act.
- 60CineVueMatthew AndersonCineVueMatthew AndersonThis is a punchy and promising debut from Pront.
- 60Village VoiceBilge EbiriVillage VoiceBilge EbiriIn the end, for all the artistry on display, The Ardennes is more admirable than inspiring. It has style, and even suspense, but relatively little imagination.
- 60The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottEven though, in retrospect, The Ardennes feels a little obvious and secondhand, it unfolds with enough speed and wit to hold your attention.
- 58The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloFirst-time director Robin Pront serves up plenty of brooding atmosphere, but the screenplay, adapted from a stage play by Pront and Jeroen Perceval (who also plays the sensible Harvey Keitel role), never succeeds in eluding genre cliché.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawA disappointment.
- 40VarietyBen KenigsbergVarietyBen KenigsbergThe climax quickens the film’s pulse but doesn’t exactly grow organically from what’s proceeded it.
- 38Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardIt predictably lurches toward acts of extreme violence with little interest other than the instant titillation such moments afford.