Much like its frazzled protagonist, 6 Balloons has a strong sense of direction, but the film is too constricted to let go, embrace the detours, and allow life to takes it course.

| Original Score: C | Apr 10, 2018

As a mood piece and character portrait, 6 Balloons is a strong debut for Ryan. But though it doesn't overstay its welcome, by the time the credits roll, 6 Balloons feels like it still has more to say.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 9, 2018

It's a compliment to first-time feature writer-director Marja-Lewis Ryan that we want more of what she has to offer.

| Apr 6, 2018

At just over an hour, it feels worthy of expansion, but as a short, sharp reminder of the sprawling horror of addiction, it makes its point with a stinging sadness.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 6, 2018

At just over 70 minutes, Balloons feels more like a sketch or a character study than a fully realized film, but it's an affecting sketch nonetheless.

| Original Score: B | Apr 3, 2018

There is a sense that the picture ends just as it gets going. But it's a movie that understands co-dependency from the inside, as well as the helplessness and hopelessness of trying to cure someone else's addiction.

| Mar 28, 2018

The movie leaves you with a deep respect for the willingness evidenced by Ryan and her collaborators to take several gambles that pay off dramatically and emotionally.

| Mar 20, 2018

What stays with you is [Abbi] Jacobson's grippingly understated lead turn, which promises a fruitful future screen life beyond Broad City.

| Mar 19, 2018

A heartfelt, scary drama about what addiction does to the people around the addict.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 13, 2018