…The East is a minor gem as far as subversive, intelligent thrillers go…

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 6, 2023

That the film leaves us thinking about our morals yet has involved us in the entertaining intrigue of a spy drama is a testament to its effectiveness as a thriller and a project with something to say.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 23, 2022

One of those rare films that brings fringe affairs to the fore through broadly entertaining engagement, The East is a fiery, enthralling work of political fiction and a meteoric flare of hope for the future of mainstream cinema.

| Nov 12, 2020

Fascinating drama set in the shadowy world of ecoterrorism.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 6, 2020

There are only two choices: either you love Brit Marling or you will love Brit Marling. The proof is The East.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 27, 2019

A perfectly functional, if somewhat underwhelming thriller, Batmanglij's The East feels all too much like a more grown-up and less naive version of the director's previous outing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 26, 2019

One of the most enchanting boring movies put to screen.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 26, 2018

As it is, crippling plot holes and underdrawn characters may mean you're less than wholly seduced by The East.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 21, 2018

Its the rather sensitive portrayals from each character that you will remember the most.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2017

Marling and Batmanglij don't fear or resent entertainment: They make effective thrillers... If they reach a major studio and bigger budget, they could be the right kind of dangerous.

| Jan 6, 2014

The whole thing feels strident and naive, a well-meaning drama composed by a couple of college kids for their Environmental Science final.

| Jan 1, 2014

The total effect is affected, annoying and off-putting.

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

Provocative and exciting, with bigger set pieces and a fierce devotion to character development, this is the sort of smart genre thriller that Hollywood needs more of.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 5, 2013

Marling's committed performance is offset slightly by Skarsgård's glumness and the 'surprise' casting of Page, who plays the part like Juno grown up (sort of) and turned vengeful communist psychopath.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 29, 2013

Immaculately made with a thought-provoking emphasis on corporate espionage, it's just missing intensity and grit

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 26, 2013

If you start off seeing the film's moral world in simple black and white terms - greedy one percent on one side; righteous activists on the other - you'll be left uneasy... but Marling and Batmanglij deliver gripping suspense and challenging ideas.

| Aug 5, 2013

The biggest issue with The East is that Batmanglij and Marling so thoroughly rig the script in the environmentalists' favor.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 11, 2013

an engaging and almost uncomfortably thought-provoking dramatic thriller about what we -- as individuals and as a society -- value most.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 10, 2013

...a completely average piece of work that pales in comparison to Sound of My Voice.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 8, 2013

It all adds up to an intelligent romp which keeps one eye on timely issues (activists or terrorists?) and the other on entertainment.

| Jul 3, 2013