Its beguiling mix of naturalism and fabulism will appeal to adults who'd like to see a version of Beasts Of The Southern Wild with fewer fairy lights.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 5, 2017

The type of film that's miraculously heartwarming, while also mournful and filled with sorrow.

| Original Score: A | Apr 23, 2015

Glorious vision of youth and truth, love and loss, your name is Mud.

| Jan 1, 2014

An evocative highlight of the American movie year so far.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 1, 2014

Sadly, Nichols, who made the superb Take Shelter, gets mired in mood this time around. But there's still an evocative sense of childhood exploration, and a gritty performance by Matthew McConaughey.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2014

In its energy and nuance, Mud seems like the kind of film Hollywood would've made in the Seventies, and would've continued to do if not for the advent of market-conscious filmmaking.

| Jun 14, 2013

For at least three-quarters of the way, this is a fine film, and one that kids and parents could see together.

| Jun 12, 2013

Mud is as beautiful to watch as it is to listen to, and feel kinship to, whether you're from the South or just Southern at heart.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 10, 2013

There is an enchanted-fairy-tale aspect to Mud, but its bright, calm surface only barely disguises a strong, churning undercurrent.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 17, 2013

A modern fairy tale, steeped in the sleepy Mississippi lore of Twain and similar American writers, and with a heart as big as the river is wide.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 16, 2013

A brilliant metaphor for how a child deals with divorce.

| May 10, 2013

This is a film that gives McConaughey the chance to be an actor rather than a star, and, not for the first time, he grabs the opportunity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 10, 2013

Mud is, perhaps, a little longer than it needed to be, but few sensitive viewers will begrudge Nichols his indulgence. This director is the real thing.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 10, 2013

Somewhere in the dreams of Mud creator Jeff Nichols, Huckleberry Finn met Aguirre, Wrath of God.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 9, 2013

Nichols keeps getting better, but his masterpiece is (excitingly) still to come.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 9, 2013

Nichols has a strong feeling for the tactility of natural elements-water, wood, terrain, weather.

Full Review | May 6, 2013

A bold, intelligent, 21st century take on Mark Twain - with added occult tendencies.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 5, 2013

Nichols takes his time with the story, dwelling on how the boy is shaped by the killer's tragic sense of romance, yet the suspense holds.

| May 3, 2013

It's a lovely, coherent piece of storytelling, with a unique sense of place. Nichols has carved out a niche as a distinctive film-maker.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 28, 2013

Mud, from the Austin-based writer/director Jeff Nichols, is many things at once, and all enriched by David Wingo's double-stop, aching, stringed score.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 26, 2013