Critic Reviews

• Laremy Legel, Film.com

  Ponderous but lovely, simple but elegant, it should appeal to fans of Westerns.

• Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

  Small in scale but with a grand visual ambition, "Dead Man's Burden" draws nourishment from its burned-out desert setting and ambling pace.

• Miriam Bale, New York Daily News

  Despite visual nods to dozens of classic Westerns, the film cannot break through with its own vision.

• David Fear, Time Out New York

  You never get over the feeling that you're watching modern actors play frontier-drama dress-up. It's a deathblow.

• Zachary Wigon, Village Voice

  A refreshing respite from filmmakers who believe the only low-budget option is to stay firmly ensconced in their own milieu.

• Boyd van Hoeij, Variety

  A slow-burning oater that's not gun-shy when it matters, Dead Man's Burden reps an impressive first feature from producer-turned-helmer Jared Moshe.

• Robert Levin, amNewYork

  The movie offers a convincing look at the sort of irreparable damage the Civil War did to families, but too often it feels like self-conscious role-play.

• Staci Layne Wilson, Sci-Fi Weekly

  Dead Man's Burden isn't [great], but it's not a bad horse opera and is unflinching in its depictions of harshness and violence.

• Maitland McDonagh, Film Journal International

  Oddly lifeless, despite the clearly devoted efforts of the cast and crew: It's admirable without being particularly engaging, so respectful of its cinematic predecessors that its own voice is strangled.

• Mike D'Angelo, AV Club

  The story is modest to the point of occasionally seeming slight, and the ending is a tad too cute in the way it circles back to the beginning, but even those flaws just make it feel more authentic. See it now, before it gets rediscovered.

• Budd Wilkins, Slant Magazine

  It's always a pleasure to encounter genre ambition contained in such a sinewy-shot, emotionally resonant, and gorgeously photographed package.

• Eric Kohn, indieWIRE

  While soaked in ambiguity, Dead Man's Burden maintains the Western requisite that bullets must find their targets.

• Katie Walsh, The Playlist

  Dead Man's Burden is worth the watch for its sheer beauty, but it's also a slow burner of Western tragedy that hails many new talents to keep an eye on.

• John Hazelton, Screen International

  Though it sometimes wears its influences a tad too openly, Dead Man's Burden is still an atmospheric and emotionally satisfying indie western that could spark interest among serious fans of the genre.

Read all 14 critic reviews