The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

Unfolding with a reticence that’s occasionally confusing, Les Cowboys presents a suggestive, almost abstract take on terror and the generational toxicity of bigotry.

Washington Post by Christopher Kompanek

Bidegain and cinematographer Arnaud Potier speak multitudes with wide-angle, slow-panning shots that immerse us in a post-9/11 quagmire that’s never less than utterly personal.

Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer

With all this working against it, Les Cowboys strikes a fresh chord. The rise of jihadism has infused this revenge scenario with (all too literally) new blood.

Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang

Its strength lies in the way it continually collapses the distance between people and cultures, forcing its characters to reckon with what they perceive as strange and unfamiliar.

Village Voice by Michael Nordine

The strange, ever-changing result is, at times, as original as loose remakes come, with Bidegain using his hallowed source material as a springboard for something rare: a "writer's movie" that loses nothing in the jump from script to screen.

Variety by Peter Debruge

Bidegain, who for years has served as the muscle behind Jacques Audiard’s scripts, advances his ongoing deconstruction of genre-movie masculinity in his uncompromising, anti-romantic directorial debut.

Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz

As in “The Searchers,” some of the motivations are questionable and murky. Yet the pain of losing someone you love is just as palpable.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

Les Cowboys pulls in with no intention of letting you go. It's a workout worth taking.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Lewis

An absorbing, multilayered story about the search for a French girl who goes missing with her Muslim boyfriend, starts in a very un-French way: with cowboys, horses, a Marlboro Man-like billboard and country-and-western music.

Boston Globe by Peter Keough

Alain might not have the very particular set of skills of Liam Neeson’s character in “Taken” (2008), but he does have the perseverance of John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards.

The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij

Unlike the films he’s co-written for Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone…), which often rely on Audiard’s stunning capacity to foreground grand emotional sweeps, this is a much more constructed narrative that could only be described as a writer’s film, though one with several pleasant — if shocking is your idea of pleasant, that is — surprises up its sleeve.

The Film Stage by Nick Newman

Will it change my consideration of European-Islamic relations? No. Have I thought about its moral quandaries in the days since seeing this film? More than most others, at least. Does Les Cowboys create an itch to again see The Searchers? Absolutely — and that alone is a fairly strong end result.

TheWrap by Robert Abele

Though Bidegain’s effort has its moments, it never gels into a cohesive, intimate-yet-expansive whole.

The Playlist by Oliver Lyttelton

Bidegain certainly scores points for ambition with his first film, and in scenes or snippets...you can see what he was aiming for. Unfortunately, by the time it’s done, Les Cowboys feels like a missed opportunity.

Slant Magazine by Steve Macfarlane

Never content to suffice as a mediocre thriller, Les Cowboys is a wellspring of embarrassment for all parties involved.