MaryAnn Johanson Flick Filosopher Oct 10, 2020

Kat Candler's exploration of toxic male adolescence is handsome and haunting, with a star-making performance by young star Josh Wiggins...

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Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Aug 30, 2019 2.5/5

While there's nothing innately wrong with Candler's careful exploration of a troubled youth discovering the necessity and wisdom of doing the right thing, despite a pair of laudable performances, the essence of the film feels stagnantly predestined.

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Bernard Boo Way Too Indie Mar 28, 2019 8/10

Wiggins is a superstar in his debut, capturing the volcanic nature of teens harboring too much energy for their undeveloped bodies to contain. He makes good decisions and reacts well to what he's given his more experienced adult counterparts.

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Alex Heeney Seventh Row Aug 15, 2017

Candler gets strong performances from both her young cast and adult players. Unfortunately, this gets overshadowed by the predictable plot and the distractingly shaky camera angles meant to give the film added grit.

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Jared Mobarak The Film Stage Mar 7, 2016 A-

Candler paints this broken family with an authenticity that draws one in and forces us to feel their suffocating inability to escape their own pain.

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Lindsey Bahr Entertainment Weekly Dec 3, 2014 B+

Despair is not quiet for a broken father (Aaron Paul) and his troublemaker sons in Kat Candler's brisk, transfixing drama, which takes place in blue-collar southeast Texas.

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Rodrigo Perez The Playlist Aug 24, 2014 C

"Hellion" just can't quite convince or coalesce its ideas of struggle, pain and fury in a meaningful or new way.

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Austin Trunick Under the Radar Jul 31, 2014 7.5/10

Hellion paints a plaintive portrait of a family trapped in the bottom echelon of America's middle class.

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Peter Keough Boston Globe Jul 24, 2014 2/4

"Hellion" pads its slender, commonplace, but potentially rewarding premise with contrivances, clichs, repetitiousness, and, when all else fails, implausible, arbitrary melodrama.

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Marc Mohan Oregonian Jul 23, 2014 C+

"Hellion" has nothing if not empathy for every one of its characters. But without a more original story or a distinctive visual presence, it's hard for it to rise above a crowded field.

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Kerry Lengel Arizona Republic Jul 17, 2014 2/5

Not that inarticulate characters can't be compelling if they are written with subtlety, acted with insight and, most of all, framed by a directorial vision, but "Hellion," despite a promising debut from Wiggins, falls short in at least two of the above.

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John Wirt Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) Jul 11, 2014 3/4

The realism in "Hellion" is admirable, as are the actors' emotion performances. These wrenching qualities also make the film a tough sell.

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Tom Long Detroit News Jul 10, 2014 B+

The acting overall is strong, but Paul, still testing the waters after "Breaking Bad," is extraordinarily controlled.

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Travis Hopson Examiner.com Jul 10, 2014 3/5

Hellion fits into something I like to call the "festival bubble".

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Anders Wright San Diego Union-Tribune Jul 10, 2014 2.5/5

The acting is stronger than the rest of the film itself, which sports far too much shaky camera work and a conclusion that is obviously foreshadowed by the appearance of a gun early on.

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Mike Scott Times-Picayune Jul 10, 2014 3/5

It takes a lot to stand out in a cast that includes Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, but Josh Wiggins proves up to the task. It'll be fun to see where his career takes him next.

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Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Jul 10, 2014 B

Raw and poignant, capturing the bursting aggression of early teenage years and the mummifying trance of grief. It's often heartbreaking and periodically frightening.

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Jeff Meyers Metro Times (Detroit, MI) Jul 9, 2014 B-

Candler's plotting is predictable and her characters should be substantially deepened, but her ability to capture the rage of male adolescence and the numbness of grief is nothing less than superb.

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Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Jul 9, 2014 3/5

Everything about it is so indie that it feels like it's following a formula as rigid as that of any romcom or teen-meat-on-the-hoof slasher picture.

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Steve Davis Austin Chronicle Jul 7, 2014 3.5/5

The relief you'll experience during the beautifully modulated ending to Hellion may elicit a heavy sigh, deep and gratifying.

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