47
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Boxoffice MagazineSteve RamosBoxoffice MagazineSteve RamosFerrera proves herself to be just as talented in dramatic roles.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoA gut-wrenching look at the human cost of war.
- 70Village VoiceNick PinkertonVillage VoiceNick PinkertonThe Dry Land does slip inside the inescapable, closed-circle logic of despair, and O'Nan's shy, precarious performance keeps you with him to the edge of the abyss.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThere's nothing in director Ryan Piers Williams' script that elevates this film above others with similar themes. But his heartfelt approach can be seen in the committed cast -- led by O'Nan but also including Valderrama, whose quietly authentic work is a nice surprise.
- 50NPRScott TobiasNPRScott TobiasA little focus might have helped. Or not: The Dry Land seems intent to tick off a checklist of PTSD symptoms without animating them with fresh details or creative life. It's cloaked in an earnestness that suffocates.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenA strong first film, and with a better-honed script, Williams should prove to be a director to watch.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearOnly jackanapes and jackasses would deny that the experience of war can cause psychic damage, but does that mean we have to sit through such a schematic, dogmatic melodrama about the subject?
- 40The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisSincere performances elevate an underdeveloped script and awkward filmmaking in The Dry Land, a coming-home drama as inexpressive as its traumatized lead.
- Shaped more for message than for convincing narrative impact, The Dry Land ends up feeling like a PSA to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder.
- 33The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinA painfully earnest drama about post-traumatic stress disorder that sticks so closely to the soldiers-coming-home template, writer-director Ryan Piers Williams seems to be diligently working through a checklist of returning-warrior-movie clichés.