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

A taut and affecting thriller.

| Sep 27, 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

It's the kind of scenario we've often seen on screen, but the ambience is new and precisely evoked as a world of cruel contrasts.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 16, 2019

"Little Woods" is a neo-western film that serves as a full deconstruction of what ails the United States of America through the eyes of women.

| Original Score: 5/5 | May 10, 2019

It's a testament to the strength of Thompson's performance, and DaCosta's control of tone and action, that for all the bleakness of this world, we keep watching.

| May 7, 2019

If this is [DaCosta's] starting line, imagine what she'll be able to do once she hits her stride.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 22, 2019

[DaCosta] intuitively reveals a deeper dimension to both of her heroines by taking an extra beat at the beginning or end of scenes to observe their faces when no one else is watching.

| Apr 20, 2019

This startlingly accomplished debut feature by Nia DaCosta has the eyes and ears of a documentary-the opioid crisis is everywhere, the nearest hospital is far away-but the heart of a drama, and a stirring one.

| Apr 20, 2019

With a confident eye and economy of storytelling, DaCosta crafts a fiercely feminist and sensitive family portrait

| Apr 19, 2019

If Little Woods had trusted its two leading ladies just a little bit more, it could have been a truly great movie. As is, it's a very good one that is worth seeing mostly for its cast.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 19, 2019

A modest but intensely empathetic first film by writer-director Nia DaCosta.

| Apr 18, 2019

A thriller wants to entertain you. Little Woods wants you to think, and feel. I did both.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 18, 2019

Tessa Thompson emotionally expands "Little Woods," turning a small movie into something more than its textured parts.

| Apr 18, 2019

The film fails to provoke a strong emotion from the audience other than a heavy sense of hopelessness, but that's also what makes it so interesting. It doesn't bother to coddle.

| Apr 18, 2019

Featuring a dynamite turn from Tessa Thompson as a parolee looking for one last opiod score before going straight, Nia DaCosta's uneven but compelling drama tells you what's it like living down-and-out in the USA.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 18, 2019

DaCosta has made a suspense film in which we root for the heroes to break the law, and then she sends us home to ponder all the reasons they need to.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 17, 2019

Those willing to endure the film's discomforts will come away having witnessed as powerful and essential a depiction of familial love as they are likely to see this year.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 17, 2019

Everyone comes out of "Little Woods" looking good, and DaCosta comes out with a directing career.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 17, 2019

Just when you think you know where it's going, it subverts the genre, telling an old story from a new, unexpected perspective.

| Apr 16, 2019