Critic Reviews

• Jordan Hoffman, Film.com

  horrible

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  Plays distressingly like a photographed off-Broadway drama.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  The confessions and conflicts that bubble up feel real and lived, if overly familiar to connoisseurs of that dreaded genre known as the dysfunctional-family drama.

• Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

  This could be renamed "Mope-Faced Kingdom."

• Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

  Beautifully observed characterizations and fine performances enliven this sometimes static drama about an unexpected family reunion.

• Pete Vonder Haar, Village Voice

  During their "getting to know you" scene, Seth asks Vicky, "Is everybody that predictable?" As far as In Our Nature goes, it would seem so.

• Leah Churner, Austin Chronicle

  It's like an average weekend: nice enough, but tepid.

• Matthew Odam, Austin American-Statesman

  The characters in this family drama are not given enough backstory or nuance to make their problems feel real, and none of the characters warrants much interest or compassion.

• Scott Weinberg, Twitch

  The movie earns high grades for allowing four strong actors to work their way through some basic but interesting obstacles that must of us can relate to in one way or another.

• Diego Costa, Slant Magazine

  In Our Nature's visual style seems plastered on or allocated, not developed with any sort of authorial singularity.

• Shirley Sealy, Film Journal International

  Brian Savelson generally eschews emotional fireworks to create this small and intimate study of how difficult it is to repair broken relationships while trying to preserve those that look promising.

• Noel Murray, AV Club

  In Our Nature lumbers a lot, especially early on, as Savelson introduces the cast and has Gilford and Slattery keep coming up with weak excuses to stall the movie's premise from kicking in.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  A drama filled with the same kind of emotional fireworks that animate the gripping familial interactions in works by Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill.

• Christine N. Ziemba, Paste Magazine

  Yes, the pacing of In Our Nature is slow, and drags near the film's halfway point, but the top-notch ensemble propels the film forward, adding complexity to the characters while leaving the over-the-top melodrama for Lifetime.

• Erik Childress, eFilmCritic.com

  Like Carnage it gets off to a rocky start in keeping all its protagonists from leaving the movie. But if you can make it past that - and John Slattery helps a bunch - Brian Savelson's film settles into a nicely mature story about airing grievances.

• Todd Gilchrist, The Playlist

  "In Our Nature" is as prophetic as it is provocative, exploring dysfunction, in a recognizable but no less satisfying way.

Read all 16 critic reviews