A powerful indictment of systemic racism in America based on the classic novel by Richard Wright.

| Dec 7, 2022

At times quite visually stunning, but with tonal incongruities that make for a disjointed viewing experience.

| Sep 10, 2019

Johnson's striking vision is enhanced by Libatique's photography, which perfectly outlines the discomfort experienced by Big as he tries - and fails - to fit in anywhere.

| Jul 29, 2019

By itself, it falters. [Full review in Spanish]

| May 28, 2019

There are many things that make Park's work remarkable...

| May 15, 2019

Nearly 80 years after Native Son was first published, we're still searching for answers.

| Apr 11, 2019

The fact that we cannot escape Bigger Thomas's ghost is partly due to Johnson and Park's fashionable decision to subvert Wright's cautionary book and turn out one more urban-tragedy scenario, now carrying the imprimatur of HBO slickness.

| Apr 9, 2019

Ashton Sanders gives a strong performance as Bigger.

| Apr 8, 2019

Despite a promising start, I didn't believe a second of Native Son's second half.

| Original Score: C | Apr 8, 2019

Native Son is a compelling film with strong performances but I can't help but feel that something is lost in updating the story for present day.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 7, 2019

Native Son makes a number of changes to its source material, many of which dilute the story's power.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 6, 2019

Thanks in great part to the staying power of the source material, and the blistering work by Ashton Sanders and KiKi Layne, Native Son leaves a lasting imprint.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 5, 2019

Native Son is heartbreaking and painfully relevant, proving that in the nearly 80 years since Wright published his novel, little has changed.

| Original Score: B | Apr 5, 2019

The movie is at once struggling with what it wants to say, what it needs to say and what history has said before it, and its message becomes muddled in the process.

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

Native Son is a highly watchable and frequently discomfiting film in which the violence of one generation melts smoothly and nastily into the violence of another.

| Original Score: 8.4/10 | Apr 4, 2019

In addition to creating a visually seductive atmosphere to draw viewers into Bigger's interior world, Johnson elicits a subtle performance from Sanders... Native Son's message is important, but its approach occasionally feels throwback.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 4, 2019

Native Son vividly revives a seminal book, and once the movie and audience get their bearings, proves as thought-provoking as it is heartbreaking.

| Apr 4, 2019

An especially thoughtful film - that's already a given - but an unexpectedly inert one.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 3, 2019

Despite that unevenness, there's no denying that Johnson's film, with a script by Pulitzer-winning playwright Suzan Lori-Parks, is an ambitious and arrestingly compelling work that packs a mighty punch.

| Apr 3, 2019

Native Son challenges society to stop objectifying Black culture, showing how worshiping it can be just as dehumanizing as loathing or fearing it.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 16, 2019