Down to the Bone emerges with an aura of authenticity so strong as to be mesmerizing, thanks to a superior script brought to life with infallibly natural performances.
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Quietly devastating.
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A quietly harrowing chronicle of addiction and fragile recovery anchored by Vera Farmiga's intense performance.
75
New York Post
New York Post
Writer-director Debra Granik has found a star, and wisely builds every scene around Farmiga's character.
70
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Strong performances from Vera Farmiga and Hugh Dillon keep things from becoming overdramatic.
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
This is a performance without the histrionics and emotional outbursts that accompany most portrayals of addiction. This feels closer to the truth.
First-time feature director's disciplined objectivity is coupled with humanism in this collaboration with a gifted cast and cinematographer. The artistic success, though, may be a bit too cool.
70
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Like Catherine Hardwicke's "Thirteen," this film has an ear for the way moms talk to kids, a sensitivity to drug-sweetened intimacies, and an appreciation of the urgent nuance, not just the comedy, of recovery-speak.