The beauty of Super Dark Times can be found in its caring and sensitive vision for the characters’ world.

| Dec 6, 2023

The realism in this film is more than any other film that's been on this list. It's true and it's sad and it's... heartbreaking but it doesn't make much sense unfortunately.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 26, 2020

Super Dark Times goes from being a thriller to being a meditation on adolescent violence and toxic behaviors. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 19, 2020

It is a film in which every aspect has been given noteworthy attention, and the end-result just clicks and feels right.

| Jan 9, 2020

The ending feels a tad hamfisted in its execution, but by and large is a fantastic debut film for Kevin Phillips, and I'm excited to see how he follows it up.

| Oct 23, 2019

... beautifully crafted, finely executed and gorgeously shot.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Aug 8, 2019

The film is unthinkable and yet it is resonant and relevant.

| Jan 24, 2019

An intriguing and impressive debut feature. Director Kevin Phillips' depiction of that carapace of cockiness, built as protection by so many teens but so easily shattered by events they are ill-equipped to deal with, is particularly affecting.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Dec 17, 2018

There's almost nothing you can take away from this experience except an onslaught of unpleasantness. Which is too bad, because Phillips shows a lot of promise behind the camera.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 30, 2018

Becomes an even less revelatory film about an actively predatory teen.

| Sep 6, 2018

Beneath the surface, there's a sincere exploration of friendship and loss of innocence, delivered with conviction by a sharp young cast.

| Nov 10, 2017

[Super Dark Times] is an impressive piece of work that deserves to be seen. And if it takes the hype around something more mainstream to draw attention to its existence, well, stranger things have happened.

| Oct 27, 2017

I wasn't as impressed with the film as some of my fellow audience members, but Kevin Phillips, transitioning from music videos to feature films and from cinematography to directing, has an undeniable eye.

| Oct 27, 2017

An effective thriller, anchored by great performances and a strong visual language for a debut film.

| Oct 25, 2017

Super Dark Times is a film that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful and meaningful drama.

| Oct 23, 2017

Super Dark Times appeals to the tactile and sensory memories of anyone who grew up in a middle-class suburb around the turn of the century.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Oct 18, 2017

Without spoiling anything, Super Dark Times is scary because it takes the time to examine how a single act of violence can ripple differently through several lives based on what's already there.

| Oct 12, 2017

a perverse and strange exploration of real horror, via the unsteady, ill-equipped perspective of doltish teenagers.

| Oct 6, 2017

Both a thriller and meditation on the loss of innocence, Super Dark Times is rich with the minutiae of a bygone era ... but Phillips and screenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski press hard against the instinct for nostalgia.

| Oct 4, 2017

[Kevin] Phillips kind of stumbles when he tries for a pat wrap-up of a still-horrific problem. But when he digs into the muck of the rot at the heart of it, he comes up with some unforgettable moments.

| Oct 2, 2017