All of the performances in this film were strong, but those of Fionnula Flanagan and Angela Trimbur definitely stand out.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 6, 2019

A film which doesn't exactly warrant puns on the putrid sort of smell its title evokes, but mistakes abject cynicism for black comedy.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 3, 2019

The filmmaker's confrontational style suggests that hell is other people and he's quite adept keeping the flames rising in that regard.

| Mar 1, 2019

Thankfully consists of more fire than trash.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 2, 2018

The candid, abrasive characters and dialogue in Trash Fire are frequently painful, uncomfortable and very, very funny. I

| Aug 28, 2018

Trash Fire is an acquired taste. It's doubtful that it will become a camp classic, although fans of off-kilter horror films may find this little flick enjoyable.

| Aug 6, 2018

Tonally vicious and nihilistic throughout

| Feb 12, 2017

Trash Fire entertains with laughs and thrills, but it also leaves you with an unexpected weight on your chest.

| Nov 7, 2016

The characters are so abrasive and unsympathetic that you wish they'd all just crash and burn.

| Nov 7, 2016

Trash Fire is a strange and unsettling film but it rarely feels like a shock-value exploitation piece.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 4, 2016

A failed American Guignol.

| Nov 3, 2016

Bates Jr. brings a satisfying level of disturbance to the effort, keeping the audience sufficiently unnerved even with unknown turns of plot, while sustaining its rather lucid take on a terrible relationship.

| Original Score: B+ | Nov 3, 2016

Another soggy batch of Southern Gothic horror-comedy from writer-director Richard Bates Jr. that spews out pitch black smoke with little combustible substance.

| Nov 3, 2016

...a twisted piece of Southern Gothic which pinpoints its writer/director Richard Bates Jr. ("Excision") as one to watch.

| Original Score: B- | Nov 3, 2016

At least it's a good-looking orgy of adolescent nihilism, thanks to some clever stylistic touches from Bates and cinematographer Shane Daly. And if hating everyone is kind of your thing, you might get a kick out of it.

| Original Score: B- | Nov 3, 2016

It's kind of like Meet the Parents crossed with Psycho and it's a dark, nasty piece of work in most of the ways it should be.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 3, 2016

Bates plays with horror tropes, juggling black comedy and suspense in scenes that tease a gory release but ultimately only emphasize how much members of the creative class can underestimate their backward kin.

| Nov 2, 2016

Trash Fire blazes with pitch-black wit and a dark, volatile story of redemption so good you'll be laughing your way straight to Hell.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 1, 2016

...his dialogue is fantastic throughout, and his actors deliver it perfectly

| Oct 19, 2016

While Trash Fire may not be nearly as seamless as his previous efforts, I'm a big fan of Bates' mordant sensibilities as a storyteller and enjoyed Trash Fire, minor flaws and all.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 19, 2016