The first half is a riveting thriller with a great mystery that’s well executed and gripping on all fronts. The second half is more mundane, dull and been done before. However, there’s still some good things thematically throughout...

| Original Score: B | Aug 19, 2024

This is a superbly written and enjoyably pulpy neo-noir that delivers offbeat thrills and some blackly comic laughs, thanks to Mickle’s confident direction and a trio of terrific performances.

| Original Score: 8/10 | May 11, 2022

Undoubtedly simple, Cold in July may not be for all tastes, but it is one of the best examples of vintage styling to come about in some time, and on nearly every possible front.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 3, 2020

Cold In July works to rebuff formula misdirection, developing fresh trust and involvement within a genre so commonly prone to deception.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 15, 2019

The film's weakness is that the varied forms it inhabits feel largely derivative, not elevated enough to free themselves from the norm.

| Original Score: 6.9/10 | Mar 28, 2019

An overly-respectful, slick, tonally confused and intermittently entertaining thriller.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 26, 2019

Cold in July is made with skill, acted with proficiency and has a story with unfulfilled potential.

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 15, 2019

Gripping and tense old-school thriller with plenty of twists and a retro synth soundtrack.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Nov 2, 2018

With strong character work from Hall, Shepard and Johnson; Cold in July is a fun little noir film that is worth spending the time with on a rainy night.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 23, 2018

I have never seen a film eat itself in the space of a single scene change. But the moment Sonny Crockett swaggers in, Cold in July collapses in less time than it takes to light a wet fart.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 21, 2018

"Cold in July," a film directed by Jim Mickle and written by Mickle and Nick Damici is the little engine that ultimately couldn't.

| Sep 16, 2017

By the end, the genre conventions have shifted enough to make you feel like you're in a different movie, and yet it has a satisfying, if dark, conclusion that's true to each step along the way.

| Aug 14, 2017

While the unforeseen places it goes kept me engaged, unearned character motivations, and an awkward genre balance prevent this from being a knock-out exploitation noir entry.

| Original Score: C+ | Jun 21, 2016

[Cold in July is] an absorbing take on the modern family noir, a movie that knows the devil's in the details.

Full Review | Jun 14, 2016

Bristling with sharp surprises at every dark turn, punctuated by crackling performances from a first-rate cast and filmed with a haunting moodiness, Cold in July is a perfect little film

| Original Score: 5 of 5 | Apr 18, 2016

A few too many twists and turns, but Johnson and Shepard help save it

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 31, 2015

A well-paced story that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats as it bucks and rolls in unexpected directions to a bloody and satisfying climax.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 11, 2014

A heart-stoppingly tense, cunningly twisty crime thriller

| Oct 26, 2014

The 'That's for the hat' speech is a delicious bit of fun, but the film's final third is so derivative and keen to shock if feels like a different movie entirely.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2014

If you want to recreate the experience of watching a movie on HBO at 12:50 a.m. in 1991, Jim Mickle's "Cold in July" is your movie.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 1, 2014