64
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90VarietyBill EdelsteinVarietyBill EdelsteinThe universal theme of personal principle vs. human necessity gets a workout in languid but inexorably powerful morality play, Runoff.
- 88RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzRogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzI don't think Kimberly Levin's debut feature Runoff entirely works as a story or a statement. But as an experience, it's amazing — so unlike most other recent American independent films in its style and mood.
- 75Slant MagazineNick PriggeSlant MagazineNick PriggeThis emotionally affecting film never loses sight of the ethical complexity of forsaking a community in the name of an individual.
- Like its rural setting, Runoff is slow, deliberate, and concerned with practical things.
- 70Village VoiceDanny KingVillage VoiceDanny KingKimberly Levin's Runoff deals with an old-as-time moral quandary — how far will you go to protect your family? — but the movie achieves an understated resonance through Levin's emotionally sensitive compositions and her clued-in portrayal of life in a middle-American farming community.
- 60The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe movie’s extreme compression is its biggest failing. The business end is so minimally sketched, you are left wanting to know a lot more.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweThe Hollywood ReporterJustin LoweThe threats faced in Runoff feel generic: predatory corporations, merciless banks, environmental contamination and encroaching industrialization just seem like overly familiar themes, lacking sustained suspense.
- 40Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshLos Angeles TimesKatie WalshThe low energy pace and performances strive for naturalism but just don't achieve compelling tension or suspense.