73
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpFearsome and fearless at the same time, Palm Trees and Power Lines practically dares viewers to watch what’s happening on screen without flinching.
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanPalm Trees and Power Lines finds a truth, one it wrenches out of an experience.
- 87Paste MagazinePaste MagazineWhile Palm Trees and Power Lines certainly functions as a cautionary tale, it derives the intensity of its power from the uncomfortable degree to which we’re compelled to empathize with Lea as she makes a string of increasingly perilous decisions.
- 80The GuardianAdrian HortonThe GuardianAdrian HortonIt’s trite to say a debut performance is a revelation, but the whole film simply does not work without McInerny, who is fully convincing as a girl on an emotional precipice. It’s an astoundingly calibrated turn, one of barely lidded emotions that eventually skitter about
- 80The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeWith its stark portrayal of abuse, Palm Trees and Power Lines won’t be for everyone. But the director’s assured approach to a thorny topic, the way she needles at assumptions about grooming and the care with which she treats Lea’s story will linger with me for a long while.
- 80Film ThreatSabina Dana PlasseFilm ThreatSabina Dana PlasseDack’s work as a director is on the screen, in the characters, and widely successful with how the actors convey her vision. Her writing and directing of Palm Trees and Power Lines will make a difference because it’s organic, original, and essential.
- 80Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenIt’s a compelling, edgy story of exploitation with no easy answers.
- 80We Got This CoveredMartin CarrWe Got This CoveredMartin CarrExpanded from a short that Dack wrote and directed previously, this mini-budget indie effort slowly draws audiences in through vicarious observation.
- 75IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandThroughout the film, both Dack and her revelatory star teeter through shifting concepts, black and white, yes and no, that only grow more jarring and tense as Palm Trees and Power Lines unfolds.
- 67The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupWhile Palm Trees and Power Lines functions as a harrowing lesson for the worst-case scenarios of grooming, there’s an emptiness to the experience that, while reflecting our protagonist’s journey, results in a film that doesn’t feel fully formed.