Fish Tank

Fish Tank (2009)

  • 90% of critics liked it
    (140 reviews)

  • 78% of users liked it
    (11,346 ratings)

A mother and daughter find themselves locked in an ugly battle over the same man in this drama from writer and director Andrea Arnold. Mia Williams (Katie Jarvis) is 15 years old and lives in a shabby apartment block with her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), and younger sister, Tyler (Rebecca… More

Play Trailer

Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
Andrea Arnold
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Jan 15, 2010 Wide
IFC

Critic Reviews

  • David Denby, New Yorker

    Fish Tank may begin as a patch of lower-class chaos, but it turns into a commanding, emotionally satisfying movie, comparable to such youth-in-trouble classics as The 400 Blows.

  • Ian Buckwalter, NPR

    A bold new entry in the long-standing British tradition of disquieting social realism.

  • Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    The characters are guarded, and as we come to understand them scene by scene, they become ever harder to sort into convenient categories of hero and villain.

  • Tom Long, Detroit News

    Writer-director Andrea Arnold, working in British lower-class realism, still finds wondrous moments of connection in Mia's life.

  • David Germain, Associated Press

    Writer-director Andrea Arnold has created something so real and raw, you may come away with a twinge of guilty voyeurism, a sense of peering too closely and impolitely into other people's lives.

Read all 22 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Emil K


    Unexpected, gritty and simply one of the most powerful British films ever made. Director/writer Andrea Arnold already showed huge talent with her short-film Wasp and debut feature Red Road, but what she achieves with Fish Tank is completely on it's own league. Stylistically this… More

  • Universal D


    Look for this slight British coming-of-age bit that packs a wallop (reminiscent of the kitchen sink productions of the late 50's/early 60's for gritty realism)and don't let it go by as all the actors but especially the newbie director/writer Andrea Arnold delivers the… More

  • Jens S


    Realist youth drama about a girl from the British underclass who enjoys dancing and little else. The acting is top notch, from the amateurs and protagonist Katie Jarvis to Michael Fassbender who soon became one of the coming Hollywood shooting stars. And so we follow Mia around a lot,… More

  • Julie B


    Katie Jarvis gave an outstanding performance in this. Not good for a night you need a pick-me-up though. Even if you think that pick-me-up is Michael Fassbender.

  • Jim H


    A troubled teen finds hope in dance and aggression everywhere else. There wasn't a moment during Fish Tank when I didn't think that the camera was following a real person in a troubled life. With the handheld follow shots and the extended takes of Mia walking the streets,… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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