Like its subjects, War Pony is one of a kind.

| Oct 24, 2024

The result is a film that is both unflinchingly gritty and wistfully dreamlike, mischievously funny and achingly melancholy. A film that feels alive in a full, unfiltered way.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 4, 2024

Enjoyably meandering, like the characters themselves, this is a stunning depiction of life in this place, with its mix of cultures.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 4, 2024

Leaves the audience mesmerized after witnessing heartbreak and rage balanced by moments of tenderness and comedy. Riley Keough and Gina Gammell deliver a veracious account of indigenous life by tapping into the soul of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 9, 2024

War Pony is a vivid portrait of loss, hope for the ever-elusive future, and the ways communities come together and fall apart.

| Nov 13, 2023

A polished staging of an 'indie' character, but with a careful visual composition that reinforces this impression without leaving aside its artistic sense. [Full review in Spanish]

| Oct 5, 2023

Keough and her co-director, Gina Gammell, [have] made a stunner of a feature debut.

| Sep 7, 2023

Both lyrical and gritty, a kind of docudrama whose loose assembly of seriocomic incidents nonetheless never feel slack, this is an imperfect but very impressive indie feature.

| Aug 21, 2023

A gentle, raw and vulnerable portrait of Native American masculinity and boyhood.

| Aug 11, 2023

A depressing but fascinating directorial debut by Elvis's granddaughter, depicting how the rez has basically become the 'hood.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 6, 2023

Filmed on the traditional homelands of the Oceti Sakowin and Tongva Peoples, “War Pony” feels lived in, and lived hard.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 4, 2023

There are some notable lags in the pacing, but overall War Pony is a gripping tale of personal strife and a mirror reflecting American shame.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 4, 2023

An atmospheric and effective work that overcomes its issues through pure, open-hearted authenticity, exploring with sincerity the gentle absurdities of surviving to live another day.

| Aug 1, 2023

War Pony is a desperate journey through the perils of poverty, crime, and exploitation. The lack of opportunities in a gritty environment forces difficult choices. You will be shocked and saddened with a slice of life drama that pulls no punches.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 31, 2023

The film’s ability to take those genre beats and occasionally tweak them, twist them, and add something regionally specific to them keeps this from being just another tale of desperate decisions and tough times.

| Jul 28, 2023

As poetic and otherworldly as “War Pony” can be, the reality of its people never feels real.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 28, 2023

"War Pony" is an involving, neo-realistic hard luck story shot on location with a non-professional cast.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 28, 2023

The loosely constructed plot meanders, although this evocative coming-of-age drama finds heartfelt humanity in its harsh setting.

| Jul 28, 2023

In times when audiences are desperate for real stories and diverse representation in front of and behind the camera, “War Pony” is a must-see film.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 28, 2023

[T]he film ... [is] an isolated study of the ease of falling into self-destructive behavior and the difficulty of escaping from that pattern.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 28, 2023