51
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterTold with raw emotion and lurid violence, it transforms elements of his life story into a disturbing, eye-opening coming of age drama.
- 60The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergFarming is a mystery movie in which the author investigates himself — and doesn’t fully share the answers.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawFarming is a tough film on a tough subject. There’s not much light and shade – but there can’t have been much light and shade going through it in real life – and Gubu Mbatha-Raw’s role as the concerned teacher is weakly drawn.
- 60Time OutPhil de SemlyenTime OutPhil de SemlyenIt has a kernel of raw torment and an unforgiving streak that hints at still-unreconciled wounds, too. It’s not the best film of the year, but it’s definitely one of the most personal.
- 50Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarLos Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarSome distance between the source and the story would have benefited the themes at play, which end up buried beneath punches, slurs and bestial masculinity.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonClosely based on the director's own troubled youth, Farming is rooted in rich, complex, potentially gripping material. But Akinnuoye-Agbaje slaps this story together with so little subtlety, he ends up seriously diluting its dramatic power.
- 50VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangUnremittingly, bludgeoningly bleak in its portrayal of his own degradation and humiliation, and displaying only a passing interest in his eventual rehabilitation, the film is remarkable for its lack of self-pity, but it makes the experience of “Farming” a merciless one for the audience too.
- 40EmpireEmpireThough the central performance is impressively raw Farming’s uncompromising bleakness drowns out the fascinating story, making it a far tougher watch than it needs to be.
- 40The Observer (UK)Simran HansThe Observer (UK)Simran HansEnitan’s trauma is revelled in but for what? Few new truths are learned here. A rushed, redemptive montage towards the film’s end is presented as ickily aspirational.