It's "Mad Max" with less accents, hipster/vintage fashion instead of embarrassing rejects from an S&M catalog, and, regrettably, fewer gallons of movie-compelling fuel to push any envelopes.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 12, 2021

It's an ambitious attempt at redefining what has become of the dystopian genre, but despite some good work from Shannon it's a bland, bone dry movie.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 2, 2021

A lot of intriguing ideas are at work here, but they're jammed around a vapid narrative, making Young Ones unfortunately rather stale and narratively dehydrated.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 6, 2019

Occasionally aimless as it may be, Young Ones works enough conceptually to make the film a worthwhile experience.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 19, 2019

If the characters' journeys were as innovative as the aesthetics, Paltrow would have had a career-defining masterpiece on his hands.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Mar 22, 2019

Combines the best elements of the Western and science fiction into a coming-of-age tale that almost manages to skirt most of each genre's clichés.

| Aug 10, 2018

From [Michael] Shannon to [Nicholas] Hoult, it's refreshing to see actors most recently associated with big-budget properties like Superman and X-Men get their hands dirty with this gritty little picture.

| Aug 21, 2017

There's more than enough originality on display to wet the beaks of sci-fi and western fans alike.

| Original Score: B | Jun 21, 2016

The problem is that the film is in perpetual fast-forward mode... speeding through all its flash and developments.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 7, 2015

An awkward, heady mixture of science-fiction, soap opera, western and Greek tragedy but the quality of the performances and the cinematography render it better than you might have feared.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 1, 2015

It's intermittently arresting but ultimately exasperating.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 30, 2015

There hasn't been as convincing a sci-fi dustbowl story since the original Mad Max.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 30, 2015

There are some intriguing concepts at play here, and a striking visual style amid the harsh arid landscapes, yet the slow-burning story boils down to simplistic elements of revenge that feel familiar.

| Oct 31, 2014

In the hot, dry world of Jake Paltrow's dystopian western, Young Ones, the characterizations are as sparse as the desert foliage.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 31, 2014

The performances are strong. It's rare to find anyone who can hold their own with Shannon on the screen, and here we have three who are under 25... But the story hints at complexities that it never bothers to explore more fully.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 30, 2014

"Young Ones" is a futuristic look at a world with little water, but the most barren thing in this Western-sci-fi flick is the character development.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Oct 30, 2014

Young Ones has some interesting twists but falls short as a reworking of a classic Hollywood oater.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 30, 2014

A dusty, Old Testament tone poem of obsession, savagery and other darker human impulses, Young Ones grapples with the long shadows that sins of the past can cast, and the question as to whether they can be escaped.

| Original Score: 7.8/10 | Oct 30, 2014

Young Ones tosses a few science-fiction gadgets into a thin, uninspired Western saga and hopes they'll compensate for the tedium.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Oct 22, 2014

Drawing influences from The Road, the Westerns of John Ford, and a little bit of Mad Max, Young Ones is a completely unique visual experience.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 20, 2014