Holy hell, "Donnybrook" is bleak. A movie about a down-on-his-luck former soldier and a vicious drug dealer competing for $100,000 in an underground bare-knuckle melee already sounds grim, but damn.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 30, 2020

The gritty film is a no-holds-barred bare-knuckle battle royal through the most impoverished corner of contemporary America. It is not for the faint of heart.

| May 21, 2019

A repulsive story of drugs and street-fighting that wallows in violence more than suspense.

| Original Score: C- | Apr 30, 2019

Donnybrook has trouble finding its footing, coming off as derivative of superior films.

| Mar 23, 2019

The rural and sometimes riveting thriller implodes as predictability takes over. It resembles a film that would have been released by Golan-Globus under Cannon Films in the late 80s/early 90s.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 13, 2019

Rough and tumble violence in an uncaring world.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Mar 8, 2019

Unapologetically harsh with an abundance of visceral mayhem.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 5, 2019

There's plenty of sickening violence and shock factor tactics, but ultimately, this only diminishes the overall resonance of the film.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 21, 2019

There are no winners here, only losers.

| Original Score: F | Feb 20, 2019

Donnybrook isn't without its highlights - from its searing performance made even more impressive by their limited material to its gorgeous and grim cinematography - however, it simply feels bleak simply for the sake of bleakness.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 19, 2019

The downfall of the American dream observed through a hyper violent lens. A tale of brutality and sorrow that lacks an emotional punch. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 18, 2019

Sutton presents this brutal tale as though it were the modern equivalent of a Greek tragedy...but it comes across instead like vicious, overblown pulp.

| Original Score: C- | Feb 17, 2019

This film is as bleak as it gets. There's nothing wrong with that, except Donnybrook never is able to develop an entry point. You're on board with its brutality or not.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 16, 2019

As an examination of primal aggression and toxic masculinity, this atmospheric drama packs a visceral punch. Yet as a broader glimpse at socioeconomic desperation in the Deep South, it's hardly a knockout.

| Feb 16, 2019

I couldn't get any of what I just saw out of my head for hours after I had viewed it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 15, 2019

Without a solid script to support its darker themes, Donnybrook is simply a joyless exercise in toxic masculinity.

| Original Score: C | Feb 15, 2019

The relentlessly bleak nature of Donnybrook will undoubtedly turn off a number of viewers as it's characters circle the drain of life.

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

If we're to judge a movie by how well a director succeeds at accomplishing what he set out to accomplish, then Donnybrook is at best a demonstration of [Tim] Sutton's technical abilities.

| Original Score: 78/100 | Feb 15, 2019

The best movies walk the line between having something compelling to say and just being exploitative. It swerves maniacally between those lines like a tweaker on a three-day bender, convinced that its characters have no other choice.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 15, 2019

I like my sleaze 100% pure; this movie is covered in Sleaze-Whiz.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Feb 15, 2019