Despair is not quiet for a broken father (Aaron Paul) and his troublemaker sons in Kat Candler's brisk, transfixing drama, which takes place in blue-collar southeast Texas.

| Original Score: B+ | Dec 3, 2014

"Hellion" pads its slender, commonplace, but potentially rewarding premise with contrivances, clichs, repetitiousness, and, when all else fails, implausible, arbitrary melodrama.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 24, 2014

Not that inarticulate characters can't be compelling if they are written with subtlety, acted with insight and, most of all, framed by a directorial vision, but "Hellion," despite a promising debut from Wiggins, falls short in at least two of the above.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 17, 2014

The acting overall is strong, but Paul, still testing the waters after "Breaking Bad," is extraordinarily controlled.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 10, 2014

The relief you'll experience during the beautifully modulated ending to Hellion may elicit a heavy sigh, deep and gratifying.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 7, 2014

The hellion of "Hellion" is Jacob Wilson, a 13-year-old Texas rebel with a cause. As played by a real teenager, Josh Wiggins, he's a force of nature.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 3, 2014

Though it may seem as if it's heading in the direction of being a feel-good movie Hellion doesn't go down that predictable road. It is more authentic than that, and that is indeed something to feel good about.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 26, 2014

If only Candler had trusted her characters enough to carry the story without the need for the requisite Act One gun and Act Three firing of same, Hellion would stand out more amidst an ever-growing pack of similar films.

| Jun 13, 2014

"Hellion" offers a startling and memorable portrait of adolescent life in downscale East Texas suburbia, along with a white-hot breakthrough performance from teenage actor Josh Wiggins.

| Jun 13, 2014

"Hellion" is a well-observed and patiently told story, with one good scene after another, featuring amazing performances across the board, but particularly from newcomer Josh Wiggins.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 13, 2014

The whole film seems to be running in place.

| Jun 12, 2014

Candler insistently tightens her focus on the hardships of growing up in a broken family, an approach that eventually feels over-determined.

| Jun 12, 2014

An affecting rural Southern drama about a delinquent teen's descent into misery and mayhem that distinguishes itself from the indie pack through precise direction and superb lead performances by Aaron Paul and newcomer Josh Wiggins.

| Jun 12, 2014

Though some characters go underdeveloped, Hellion marks one of Hollywood's most realistic examinations of rural high school angst since Friday Night Lights, another teen drama set in Texas.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 12, 2014

A glimpse into rural American childhood that's both tense and melancholy.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 12, 2014

The movie falls into an all too familiar indie torpor.

| Original Score: C | Jun 12, 2014

Features a fair share of forced drama ...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 11, 2014

Hellion lingers for most of its running time in a betwixt-and-between place, never becoming either the sublime character sketch or the overripe melodrama it alternately promises to be.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 11, 2014

Hellion offers Paul his most adult screen role so far, and he's very fine, but the movie belongs to Wiggins, a newcomer whose innate gifts are a perfect echo of Paul's.

| Jun 10, 2014

Texas-based helmer Kat Candler unpacks the inner turmoil behind acts of trespassing, vandalism and spontaneous aggression that threaten to send young Jacob down the wrong path in life.

| Jun 9, 2014