Styx

Screen Daily by

Offering little in terms of exposition and even less when it comes to dialogue, Fischer’s sophomore effort develops character and, eventually, unsettling moral questions entirely through action, playing as a more consciously political companion piece to J.C. Chandor’s similarly taciturn All is Lost.

The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij

Admirably, the director maintains the documentary illusion throughout, opting for a third act that finds exactly the right, understated tone, neither glorifying Rike’s role, nor underplaying the character’s more than obvious compassion.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

A blunt, breathless, and astoundingly unsentimental morality play that’s told with the intensity of a ticking-clock thriller, Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx is every bit as ominous as its title suggests, and far less fanciful.

Empire by Ian Freer

Styx is a gripping sea adventure that mixes thrills and spills with thoughtfulness and compassion. The MVP here is Wolff, who superbly etches emotional disintegration alongside amazing physical prowess.

Variety by Jessica Kiang

This is "All Is Lost” with a spinning moral compass and a topical dimension that proves even more gripping than its brilliantly achieved visceral action.

The Playlist by Jonathan Christian

The primary factor permitting Styx to warrant any sort of recognition is inarguably Susanne Wolff’s dynamically subtle performance.

Slant Magazine by Keith Watson

The film is a penetrating an indictment of the bureaucratic obstacles placed in front of refugees.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

A taut moral thriller, Styx is a story of what happens when self-reliance runs into other people’s desperation.

Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan

For the first half of this spellbinding — and unexpectedly gut-wrenching — little film, there’s barely any dialogue at all.

Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele

Its dizzying strength is as a visceral journey, a detour from the privileged freedom represented by a horizon to the tragic limbo of displacement, an ocean that’s both a confinement and an abyss.