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Black Flies

2023

Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Tye Sheridan, Sean Penn, Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt ...

5.9

121

Thriller A young paramedic makes his way through his first year on the job in New York City. Tye Sheridan is playing a first-year paramedic who hits the streets driving an ambulance with a grizzled vet, played by Sean Penn.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A tale full of lifeless cliche (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Bilge Ebiri Vulture	"There's style and skill to spare in 'Black Flies', but the movie also feels like a victim of the very numbness and emotional emptiness it seeks to expose"
		Lopa K The Review Geek	"Despite the enigmatic Sean Penn who always enthralls viewers, 'Black Flies' struggles"
		Tim Robey Telegraph	"Arrestingly grim from the off (...) A scuzzyily compelling ride (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter	"It leaves the viewer battered, bruised and bleeding out on the sidewalk, but never fully captivated"
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"[It] is too enraptured by the violence it finds in the margins of New York City to meaningfully interrogate the mental stress of healing it"
		Tori Brazier Metro	"Its message and lack of subtlety certainly hit home (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"Despite the crushing realism of the performances, 'Black Flies' cannot escape a sense of familiarity in the dynamic between the two characters"
		Missy Schwartz The Wrap	"There are grace notes to be found here and there in 'Black Flies', but they ring hollow"
		Eric Ortiz García Screen Anarchy	"Finds its power reflecting the brutal level of stress inherent in this profession"
		Pete Hammond Deadline	"The idea behind 'Black Flies' is admirable (...) But despite the obvious gritty filmmaking skills of its lauded French director, something was lost in translation that keeps this from really soaring."
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"A dark dive into the grueling, gruesome work of NYC paramedics (...) Sean Penn broods effectlvely (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Felipe Rangel Screen Rant	"[It] is a character study that sometimes tries way too hard to get its message across instead of doing so in a natural way with its lead duo (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"A drama that thinks it's more real than it is (...) Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's stylishly overdone film is mired in trauma for its own sensationalist sake"
		Rafaela Sales Ross The Playlist	"An entertaining yet painfully predictable thriller"
		Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"It's when the film is at its most quiet that it's also most persuasive (...) Sometimes maximum intensity doesn't yield optimal results (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Kevin Maher The Times	"The star is frequently sublime in a brutal and unrelenting film (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Alex Maidy JoBlo	"While Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn are good, they cannot overcome the weakness of a film that is so weighed down by its own horrors"
		Natalia Winkelman The New York Times	"[The main characters'] dynamic is familiar at best and dull at worst, particularly for those who long ago tired of the tragedies of toxic machismo"
		Ed Gonzalez Slant	"Shove everything into the meat grinder of cynicism and, in the end, your insights come to feel purely incidental (...) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"

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