[Director Nia] DaCosta deploy[s] handheld camerawork ... to bring intimacy to two women’s stories, whose personal collisions with addiction, abortion, the housing crisis, and the broken promise of the American dream are writ large.

| Jul 28, 2024

DaCosta does a fantastic job – especially as a debut director – at finding the opportunities for cinematic moments in this sparse story. Even when the film does slow down, it never comes to a halt.

| Original Score: A- | May 10, 2024

Before directing the Candyman sequel, Nia DaCosta made more plain the unforgiving horror that is the U.S. healthcare system in this woman-powered neo-western...

| Aug 21, 2023

A slow-burning tale of poverty and limited options that gradually closes-in on the viewer with a claustrophobic sense of tension.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 3, 2022

A humane film, one that's non-judgmental, even on the most sensitive of topics.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 15, 2021

Little Woods is a worthy entry in the Western genre effortlessly anchored by its two charismatic leading actresses.

| Oct 9, 2020

The performances from Tessa Thompson and Lily James convince me in this crime-slashed and neo-western drama that represents Nia DaCosta's directorial debut, even if the narrative is not as strong. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 26, 2020

DaCosta, Thompson, and James have created something tense and timely and empathetic in Little Woods, further expanding the Western genre and adding another slice of American life to it.

| Feb 25, 2020

[Tessa] Thompson's forceful, charismatic performance brings life to what could have been a relentlessly grim film, but it also unbalances the drama somewhat.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 27, 2020

This is a film of high tension about two sisters living on the edge of ruin in the farthest northern reaches of North Dakota. One slip up and they could end up homeless, or in jail. The only things they have to rely on are their wits and each other.

| Original Score: B | Jan 26, 2020

A taut and affecting thriller.

| Sep 27, 2019

A predictable narrative given rich contours...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 22, 2019

The film may not look impressive, but I am impressed by how [writer-director Nia] DaCosta introduces complications into this already complicated story without straining for effect.

| Aug 14, 2019

DaCosta is flat-out terrific at constructing scene after scene of anxious menace.

| Jul 29, 2019

Though it may be on the nose at times, Little Woods is a tense and emotional look at the political issues we're arguing about today that are affecting people's lives.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2019

Little Woods acts as a slow-burning drama that too often extinguishes the tension just as things are heating up.

| Original Score: 2.75/5 | Jul 16, 2019

Little Woods is a film that more people need to see, as it is not only a compelling survival drama, but it is a enlightening examination at a slice of Americana, an involving crime western and a touching look at a strong sisterly bond.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 8, 2019

Little Woods can be bleak, but it's a good choice if you're looking for some substance among the Hollywood blockbusters out this season.

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

The directorial debut by Nia DaCosta is a stunning, deep and thoughtful portrait of two marginalised women in America forgotten by city folk and the political class.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 21, 2019

Writer-director Nia DaCosta's debut feature is a bravura and, at times, bleak look at women living on the poverty line in small-town America.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 19, 2019