Aggressively nostalgic and a little bit contemporary, Northern Soul expands a small corner of history into a living, breathing, sweating universe...

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 31, 2019

Elaine Constantine's fictional account of her own experiences is an age-old tale of friendship forged through shared passions, but it's told with heart and a dogged determination to document the time.

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

Buy the soundtrack. Avoid this film.

| Nov 20, 2017

The movie is carried by the two hard-dancing leads, whose sweat-soaked strutting demands attention.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 23, 2015

Rich in period detail, it's as transportative to the shuffling spins, fashion subculture and euphoric, amphetamine-fuelled all-nighters of 1974 Lancashire and the cult-following DJs of the Wigan Casino as a documentary, turned up to 11.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 23, 2015

Disaffected youth and music go together like - well, there's actually no better simile. So how else to describe British director Elaine Constantine's first film? For one thing, it's got a well-defined sense of place and time.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 22, 2015

The cast is mostly made of newcomers, and they are very good indeed.

| Oct 21, 2015

Every last detail feels authentic, from the slightly unfashionable clothes to the cramped rooms in which John and his friends sort through records and piles of pills.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 21, 2015

It's best to not quibble with the details and just enjoy the sights and sounds of this period drama.

| Oct 9, 2015

The film has a ferocious, shaggy energy that mirrors that of the testosterone-, amphetamine- and adrenaline-pumped boys.

| Oct 7, 2015

Where this movie comes up short is in bringing any kind of real life to its bildungsroman side.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 2, 2015

The first feature from writer-director Elaine Constantine, herself a Northern soul veteran, the film follows a fairly familiar innocent-led-astray storyline.

| Original Score: C+ | Oct 2, 2015

Funny and feisty, gritty and sometimes grim, this first feature from the photographer Elaine Constantine delivers a sweaty snapshot of a very specific time and place.

| Oct 1, 2015

A revealing if disappointingly thin and histrionic drama about a couple of 18-year-old guys who gamble their dreams and future on riding a wave of youthful passion for soul music.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Oct 1, 2015

While the dynamics of John and Matt's troubled friendship are nothing new, Northern Soul does a fine job of creating their world ...

| Oct 1, 2015

The convincing atmosphere, performances and soundtrack of vintage Yank R&B obscurities make this an enjoyable throwback to a scene whose influence if not its fame eventually traveled far.

| Sep 29, 2015

This project was clearly a labor of love for Constantine, but it is hard not to conclude that her original documentary idea might have had a lot more passion than this flat-footed fictional treatment.

| Sep 29, 2015

"Northern Soul" feels driven by youthful energy.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 18, 2015

Brilliantly captures the amphetamine-fuelled energy and sweat-soaked fervour of 1970s northern England's soul music scene.

| Apr 3, 2015

Newcomer Langridge does an excellent job of making John grow up through the course of the film, subtly moving him from mouse to man through a gradual increase in confidence.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 28, 2014