Director Cark Franklin... delivers richly-drawn characters and complex relationships under the lean, gritty crime thriller.

| Dec 7, 2024

It's a film about storytelling, characters, and mood, and in its way, it goes on to say more about the tragedies and inequalities of life than an issue-driven film could.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 5, 2023

One False Move is inconsequential crime-movie trash.

| Aug 4, 2023

If you’re a fan of neo-noir crime genre films or hard-boiled detective thrillers, then One False Move is a must.

| Jul 24, 2023

A whip-smart, crackerjack thriller that is driven entirely by its characters, One False Move is a rare gem that shines brighter each time it's played. ... A unique beauty that deserves your (renewed) attention.

| Jul 24, 2023

One False Move kicks off with a bleak, gripping opening stretch...

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

One False Move is a very satisfying discovery, for it is a film of vicious force and emotional depth that has no flaw worth mentioning.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 18, 2021

The overall journey is slow and in great need of editing or reworking to create keener emphasis on the motives that lead to specific choices and confrontations.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Sep 21, 2020

Even worse than this annoying contrivance is Fantasia's portentous speech about the cry of a whippoorwill. And, yes, we actually do hear a whippoorwill cry. Perhaps it's a sign of the death of the hopes the promising film gives rise to, but then betrays.

| Apr 23, 2018

The film is not quite the masterpiece some have hailed, but it has a bluesy grip, subtle humour and more thought than the average thriller.

| Dec 12, 2017

Franklin seizes the opportunity to make a film that tightly binds up any political concerns it may have into the plot.

| Nov 16, 2017

Clark Franklin's One False Move brings a shotgun to a knife fight, and the results aren't pretty.

| May 6, 2017

Franklin no alecciona, muestra, a modo de thriller, las terribles consecuencias de la incursin de la violencia en la diaria tranquilidad de un pueblo en el que nunca pasa nada.

| Mar 3, 2017

Franklin's convincing portrait of life on both sides of the color line isn't quite like anything I've come across before, making One False Move one very assured directorial move. We need more filmmakers like him.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 6, 2013

In this film ably directed by Carl Franklin, who has spent most of his adulthood as an actor, there are more than a few tense scenes.

| May 6, 2013

For most of the way, One False Move is taut and sure-footed.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 6, 2013

Skillfully performed and welcomely unpredictable, this low-budget crime film, made by actor turned director Carl Franklin, starts out as a herky-jerky exploitation piece, then turns into something better.

Full Review | May 6, 2013

Everything about this movie -- the terse writing, the concise directing, the smart, unaffected acting -- is eminently satisfying.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 6, 2013

Rookie director Carl Franklin shows an obvious gift for pace and storytelling -- uncertain, halting moments are rare. Almost every scene has rich and authentic feeling.

| Original Score: 4/4 | May 6, 2013

One False Move doesn't make a single false move its own self: It's as tough and gripping as they come.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 6, 2013