This no-frills Broadway adaptation should have stayed on stage...

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 11, 2021

Stage adaptation superficially grapples with complex issues.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 24, 2020

American Son has all the subtlety and nuance of Driving Miss Daisy (which is to say almost none), albeit with a more interesting and complex message.

| Jan 23, 2020

American Son may not be a groundbreaking piece of filmmaking, but that's not what it was meant to be either. The film is a transformative adaptation that attempts to elevate elements of its original source material through the cinematic medium.

| Dec 28, 2019

The film presents no clear answers, never lets up on the intensity, and provides no true comfort. It is not a movie for casual viewing, but aims to make you uncomfortable and affected.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 25, 2019

Racism, parental dependence, heartbreak and police abuse are the issues American Son addresses in its hour and a half. But what may seem little... can be a lot if there is no rhythm and the dialogues are cumbersome. [Full review in Spanish]

| Nov 25, 2019

A slightly behind-the-times but nevertheless compelling comment on race relations.

| Nov 21, 2019

'American Son' is a film that will leave parents with questions about their own effectiveness, and also with an uncontrollable urge to find out where the teenagers are right now.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2019

American Son is only useful as a tool of assistance for some acting theater school. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Nov 11, 2019

Flawed as it is, American Son is a vital conversation starter, as it explores the racially mine-sown landscape many of us walk through daily.

| Nov 7, 2019

American Son doesn't really work as a movie. Its theatricality comes across as forced and curiously inert on screen, at close range to the actors, and its conversations about race and policing in particular feel stilted and contrive

| Nov 4, 2019

Kenny Leon's 'American Son' gets real about societal constructs and implicit racial bias

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 2, 2019

Washington's commitment to her role can't overcome all the shouting obviousness of the script.

| Nov 1, 2019

American Son possesses considerable power in its premise, while wrestling with the claustrophobic aspects of transferring a stage play to the screen. Ultimately, the subject matter wins out, yielding a flawed but brisk 90-minute Netflix presentation.

| Nov 1, 2019

Almost all the acting here is pointedly overstated, as if the performers are trying to project past an especially long proscenium.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 1, 2019

This one is all about hard truths...a work of art that is riveting in its own taut way.

| Nov 1, 2019

The next time Netflix goes sniffing around Broadway, it should bring back something with brains to match heart.

| Oct 31, 2019

"American Son"... tries very hard to squeeze significance out of every scene. Unfortunately it forgets to tell a story amid all the meaning. Details, details.

| Oct 31, 2019

Kerry Washington is a force of nature. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 31, 2019

As a film that will leave you thinking about it for days to come, with a powerhouse performance by Washington, American Son is a film that truly must be seen.

| Sep 19, 2019