73
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisA chillingly effective documentary.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayCropsey is compelling as a meditation on how we use stories to explain the inconceivable, and how if no story is handy, we take the available clues and make one up.
- 80Time OutEric HynesTime OutEric HynesWith tinkling thriller music and dramatic voiceover narration, this modest but engrossing first-person documentary comes on like a true crime caper.
- 80New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsDisturbing and flavorful, with a real sense of S.I. atmosphere.
- 75MovielineMichelle OrangeMovielineMichelle OrangeUltimately -- and perhaps fittingly -- Cropsey is most effective as a study of Staten Island and its inhabitants, specifically the half-life of grief as it is manifested in a self-contained community.
- 75New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickOn several levels, this film is a real-life horror story that puts most Hollywood movies to shame.
- 70VarietyVarietyCropsey has all the trappings of a true-crime TV special, but with an undercurrent of cultural exposition that is intelligent, profound and unsettling.
- 70The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisIts straggling, true-crime narrative, leaping hither and yon like a dog chasing butterflies, is not what holds the film together; the real glue is the emergence of a parallel between location and suspect, between literal dumping ground and figurative. This is so effective that there was no need for the directors to conduct a handheld, "Blair Witch"-y foray into the nighttime woods -- their film is creepy enough in broad daylight.
- 70NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloThe filmmakers tried to get him to tell his side of the story, but he's unwilling to appear on camera. Which leaves them in documentary limbo, since they've gone to great lengths to raise questions in the audience's mind about the case. The answers they've found are questions, their conclusion, inconclusive.
- 60Village VoiceNicolas RapoldVillage VoiceNicolas RapoldEmbracing what's really standard tabloid fodder of the decade with earnest engagement and doled-out suspense, Cropsey is one step from macabre comedy.