Empire by Andrew Lowry

For all the flying fists and the hero’s nightmarish predicament, the notions of redemption examined here are plenty deep. Add that to the bone-crunchingly effective technique and flawless lead performance, and you have yourself something very rare: a testosterone-driven narrative that’s about nurturing, rather than destruction. And one that achieves a bleeding-knuckled profundity.

Los Angeles Times by Gary Goldstein

It’s a haunting and masterful effort, but be warned: This is tough stuff.

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

Mr. Sauvaire’s approach may not be for everyone, but his skill and audacity are invigorating — and, strangely, liberating.

Village Voice by Chuck Wilson

A Prayer Before Dawn feels scarily authentic, and may be too much for some. But there are moments of grace amid the setting’s despair.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

So there you have it. A Prayer Before Dawn: Fine entertainment. Fine teaching tool.

Screen Daily by Fionnuala Halligan

Cole, best known for a supporting role in the TV series Peaky Blinders, gives everything to this role. It’s a physical transformation in which he convincingly plays a beaten, battered-to-a-pulp boxer who learns the rules of Muay Thai, but also a deep internal reach to deliver a complex, defiantly self-sabotaging character with depth of understanding.

Variety by Guy Lodge

At once exhausting and astonishing, this no-holds-barred adaptation of British junkie-turned-pugilist Billy Moore’s Thai prison memoir is a big, bleeding feat of extreme cinema, given elevating human dimension by rising star Joe Cole’s ferociously physical lead performance.

Screen International by Fionnuala Halligan

Cole, best known for a supporting role in the TV series Peaky Blinders, gives everything to this role. It’s a physical transformation in which he convincingly plays a beaten, battered-to-a-pulp boxer who learns the rules of Muay Thai, but also a deep internal reach to deliver a complex, defiantly self-sabotaging character with depth of understanding.

The Hollywood Reporter by Leslie Felperin

Prayer dwells with almost swooning rapture on the bodies of young men as they mete out brutal violence on one another, and features a cast composed mostly of unknowns, impressively coached in order to deliver arresting turns onscreen.

RogerEbert.com by Glenn Kenny

This movie is a remarkable feat that requires a strong stomach to sit through. I was unaware, prior to seeing it, that it’s based on a true story, and the movie’s coda was that much more powerful for me as a result.

Film Journal International by Gary M. Kramer

Credit director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and Cole for an impressive achievement that takes viewers on an intense journey.

Consequence by Randall Colburn

What makes A Prayer Before Dawn so powerful is also what makes it so punishing.

Consequence of Sound by Randall Colburn

What makes A Prayer Before Dawn so powerful is also what makes it so punishing.

IndieWire by Ben Croll

Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s film is not so much the story of a fighter as it is a story that wants to fight you.

Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

A Prayer Before Dawn is concerned above all with ensuring that we share its main character's sense of dislocation and entrapment.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

It’s not a reinvention of the genre, but it is a fairly engrossing variation on a theme. And that’s in large part due to the violence — sexual and otherwise — it recreates.

The Guardian by Xan Brooks

No one would accuse it of breaking new ground, or finding fascinating new paths across its well-worn prison yard. But Sauvaire’s drama is lean and trim and unwavering in its task.

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) makes some audacious, impressionistic choices, focusing on the nexus of sensual and brutal, but this is the rare true story that really could have used some creative embellishment.