73
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThere’s brutality but also an understated hint of poetry in the way Bratton tells his story from deep inside it, making beautiful use of Baltimore experimental pop group Animal Collective’s richly varied electronic score, which often plays in gentle counterpoint to the harshness of what’s unfolding.
- 83IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandThis is a human story, as messy and complex and maddening as any ever told, and while Bratton makes it his own (how could he not?), the generosity with which he shares it with us make it special indeed.
- 80Vanity FairRichard LawsonVanity FairRichard LawsonBratton, though, is not solely interested in a litany of struggle. He fills The Inspection with style, with spiky humor and alluring edge. It’s a promising feature debut.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugePope gives a career-igniting performance.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonBratton’s depth of feeling elevates the material, suggesting that, for the filmmaker, there’s something intensely cathartic and therapeutic in this retelling.
- 75The Film StageEthan VestbyThe Film StageEthan VestbyPositioned as a work of autobiography from first-time director Elegance Bratton, The Inspection is a flawed, if highly compelling promise of a new talented dramatist in American cinema.
- 75SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaPope's performance is so raw, so honest, that we're with him every step of the way.
- 60The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeIt’s in the film’s queerest moments that things feel most inventive, narratively and visually, as Bratton steps most firmly outside of the hemmed-in army drama formula and finds ways to make his film sit and thrive in the Venn diagram between military machismo and homoeroticism.
- 50The PlaylistRobert DanielsThe PlaylistRobert DanielsThe Inspection isn’t a bad movie. Rather it’s a disappointing slog because the arduous journey it sets up should have offered greater returns.
- 50Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonThe film is too invested in treacly cinematic optimism for its character dynamics to feel sketched out beyond their basic narrative function.