Critic Reviews

• Tom Long, Detroit News

  As road trips go, this one travels far and travels well.

• Dave Calhoun, Time Out

  The script is too full of events and outbursts for it truly to convince, but the actors bring charm to the film and director Hattie Dalton has a pleasingly light touch.

• Kate Stables, Sight and Sound

  Underneath Third Star's classy cladding, which camouflages its maudlin streak and conventional melodramatic underpinnings, there lies a TV movie first and last.

• Alistair Harkness, Scotsman

  Dalton, a Bafta-winning short filmmaker, ensures everything looks pleasant and polished enough, but there's very little here that stands out.

• Philip French, Guardian [UK]

  Rather familiar and predictable, though not dislikable.

• Allan Hunter, Daily Express

  All of this feels a little too pat and obvious until we edge towards a lump-in-the-throat finale with an emotional wallop absent from the predictability of the previous scenes.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  This beautifully shot and finely acted drama will struggle to find an audience simply because its subject matter is ultimately so dark

• David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]

  It's an hour-and a-half of nothing.

• Phelim O'Neill, Guardian [UK]

  The characters aren't particularly likable or clever, but their chemistry is convincing and it's well performed.

• Marc Lee, Daily Telegraph

  Dalton's first feature doesn't quite reach the philosophical depths she appears to be aiming for, but Cumberbatch keeps sentimentality at bay, and the ending is almost unbearably poignant.

• Damon Wise, Radio Times

  A film that many will find more morbid than melancholy.

• Antonia Quirke, Financial Times

  Cumberbatch always seems to act as though he already has the letters OBE after his name.

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Impressively directed and sharply written, this is a powerfully emotional British drama with superb performances from all four leads.

• Neil Smith, Total Film

  Hattie Dalton's direction is sensitive but ponderous, making our own third star more than slightly grudging.

• Anna Smith, Empire Magazine

  Even a talented cast struggle to convince in this tough sell of a film.

Read all 15 critic reviews