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Loving

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

United Kingdom, United States · 2016
Rated PG-13 · 2h 3m
Director Jeff Nichols
Starring Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll
Genre Romance, Drama

Richard Loving, a white laborer, wishes to marry a black family friend, Mildred Jeter. However, a potential marriage would violate Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws. This emotional story illustrates Richard and Mildred's headstrong, impassioned fight against such unjust laws --- culminating in the Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia.

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What are people saying?

What are critics saying?

75

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

The movie's light touch at times makes it difficult to engage with the stakes at hand, and Nichols' reverence for his couple's deep bond is practically so sacred he seems resistant to show any of their flaws.

83

The Playlist by Jessica Kiang

As polished a film in terms of craft and performance as Nichols has ever made, the director’s trademark considered intelligence shows itself in how subtly it reworks and refreshes the tired conceits of the historical biopic, while still remaining a conventionally appealing and, yes, Oscar-y example of the genre.

60

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

Here is a film with its heart in the right place, an anatomical correctness coexisting with heartfelt, forthright conviction and an admirable belief in the virtue of simplicity and underplaying.... But this restraint sometimes sags into a kind of absence, and means the film itself is a bit rhetorically underpowered.

70

Variety by Peter Debruge

Nichols’ film is seemingly less interested in its own glory than in representing what’s right, and though it features two of the best American performances of the past several years, from Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga (neither of whom are American, hailing from Australia and Ethiopia, respectively), its emotional impact derives precisely from how understated they are.

80

The Telegraph by Robbie Collin

Loving is short on grandstanding and hindsight, long on tenderness and honour, and sticks carefully to the historical record. It also features two central performances of serious delicacy and depth.

83

The Film Stage by Rory O'Connor

Nichols has crafted a beautifully moving and tasteful document of a quietly groundbreaking event, told from a very human perspective.

80

Time by Stephanie Zacharek

Nichols—director of Take Shelter, Mud and, most recently, Midnight Special—tells the Lovings’ story in a way that feels immediate and modern, and not just like a history lesson.

60

Screen International by Tim Grierson

Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga play the Lovings as refreshingly ordinary people caught up in the swirl of history, but a benign tastefulness overcomes Loving, smothering chances of a meaningful engagement with the material.

70

The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy

Nichols has delivered a timely drama that, unlike most films of its type, doesn’t want to clobber you with its importance. It just tells its story in a modest, even discreet way that well suits the nature of its principal characters.

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