--- title: "Certain Women: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/certain-women/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/certain-women" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 28 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Certain Women (2016): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 28 reviews: 25 positive, 1 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics like it, and for the same reasons. The reviews cluster around Reichardt’s restraint: three loosely connected stories of Montana women, told without set-pieces or melodrama, in long quiet shots that gather force. Praise settles most heavily on the third story, which many name as the film’s best stretch, and on Lily Gladstone as the ranch hand, with Kristen Stewart opposite her. The muted photography of the Montana landscape is admired almost everywhere. The reservations fall on the first two sections, which several critics find only moderately engaging next to the third, and on the structure, which some read as three short stories laid side by side rather than one film. The Hollywood Reporter finds it a touch academic and dry. Two dissenters go further: The Times finds all fine detail and no fun, and Den of Geek calls it one of Reichardt’s dullest, with no story or payoff. Even they concede the acting and the photography. ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 5/5/5. 1 March 2017. Reichardt delivers another brilliantly understated study of love and desire through three hushed anecdotes of everyday struggles among Montana women. The film is a heartbreaker that trusts the audience to notice subtle sight-lines and points of intersection in its quiet portraits of unfulfilled longing. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/certain-women) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Rating 5/5. 2 March 2017. The critic hails Reichardt's perfectly weighted adaptation as a chilly, gentle portrait of female characters, singling out the third story as the best half-hour of her career and the film's Edward Hopper-ish visual quality. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/certain-women-chilly-gentle-portrait-female-characters-edge/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 October 2016. The film is remarkably quiet and quietly remarkable, with its three stories coalescing in the most moving final section centered on a young ranch hand seeking connection. The director’s bone-deep appreciation for Montana’s desolate beauty and the cast’s performances are praised. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-certain-women-review-20161008-snap-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Kate Stables Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 2 March 2017. Reichardt’s minimalist triptych of Montana women’s stories is emotionally compelling thanks to pitch-perfect performances, muted cinematography and austere direction that avoids melodrama. The final tale of infatuation stands out for its exquisite awkwardness and Gladstone’s standout performance. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-certain-women-kelly-reichardts-minimalist-montana-triptych) ## The Independent Rating ★★★★☆. 1 March 2017. Kelly Reichardt is praised as one of contemporary American cinema’s most accomplished minimalists whose subtle, soulful and acutely observed film is utterly absorbing with a surprising emotional impact despite its lack of obvious dramatic set-pieces. Exceptional performances are highlighted, particularly big close-ups of the puzzled and yearning women. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-reviews-roundup-viceroy-s-house-certain-women-trespass-against-us-fist-fight-a7605246.html) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2016. Festival review. Reichardt’s triptych confirms her status as one of the quietest great American filmmakers, a peculiarly riveting examination of lives lived when even their owners aren’t looking. The spare narratives, calico-textured beauty, and ensemble cast make it among her richest works. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-1201687531/) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating B+. 13 October 2016. The critic praises the sensitive adaptation of short stories into a cohesive, understated triptych that captures the spirit of the format through tiny details of character and environment in a melancholic Montana setting. The standout final segment with Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone is singled out for its heartbreaking two-hander and radiant vulnerability. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/kristen-stewart-shines-in-the-sensitive-short-story-col-1798189243) ## Empire — Liz Moody Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 February 2017. Reichardt offers a rich, gently humorous character study luxuriating in the minutiae of these women’s outwardly small-scale lives, with note-perfect performances from the leads that eke out big emotions in small disappointments. It is described as a slow-burn piece whose light touch and performances make it soar. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/certain-women-review/) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds Reichardt's triptych a low-key but emotionally rewarding study of ordinary lives in rural Montana, with intersecting stories that capture quiet inertia and small personal revelations. Particular praise goes to the subtle direction, the performances (especially Lily Gladstone as the rancher), and the way the film denies conventional narrative closure while highlighting everyday melancholy. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-week-certain-women/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2016. Festival review. Reichardt confirms her status as cinema’s foremost poet of the American Northwest with this patiently told, observational portrait of life in Montana through three loosely connected vignettes centered on professional women. The film is never explicit and may be one of her least commercial, but it rewards discerning viewers with its unromanticised slice-of-life approach. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/certain-women-sundance-review/5099257.article) ## Time Out — Tom Huddleston Rating 4/5. 11 September 2016. Reichardt brings a delicate touch to a slow-burn, low-key indie drama of three Montana tales linked by geography and the inner lives of complex women, evoking her earlier films with precise emotional directness and a strong sense of place. The final story hits hardest, though some characters could have been more developed. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/certain-women) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2016. The review calls the film a quietly powerful study in women’s uncertainties, where titanic emotions are framed in long, uneventful shots with cumulative power. It singles out Laura Dern’s transparent performance and the remarkable emotional play in the final segment between Stewart and Gladstone. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/movie-review-certain-women.html) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 2017. The film’s rhythms and performances are built to last, with the final tale featuring Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone singled out as the most satisfying and authentic. The critic notes Reichardt’s preference for wry, crisp-looking dramas about depressed or beleaguered individuals groping towards a less bleak future. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/certain-women-film-reviews-three-tales-of-trouble-and-strife-a3680186.html) ## Slant Magazine — Jaime N. Christley Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2016. The critic links the film’s drama to the pervasive threat of feeling slighted, praising Reichardt’s empathetic focus on silences, missed connections, and the contrast between male indignation and female resilience. The final tale’s sublimated struggle and romantic gesture, along with Lily Gladstone’s grounded performance, are highlighted as exquisite. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/certain-women/) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 6 October 2016. Festival review. The first two sections offer only moderately engaging plots, but the third delivers overwhelming power through mood, observation, and longing. Reichardt’s attention to light and movement in the final story expands cinematic time and fills it with inner life. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/certain-women) ## IndieWire — Noel Murray Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2016. Festival review. The review presents the film as a triptych of minor-key Montana character sketches adapted from Maile Meloy stories, noting Reichardt’s skill in translating the source material’s precision and ambivalence into an understated visual register. It highlights the strong performances, especially in the final segment, while observing the episodic structure. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/sundance-review-kelly-reichardts-certain-women-starring-michelle-williams-kristen-stewart-and-laura-dern-88195/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 March 2017. The critic praises Reichardt's delicacy, intelligence, compassion and control in her muted but absorbing study of three women's separate lives in small-town Montana. The film declines traditional catharsis but rewards immersion in its quiet mystery and strong performances. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/02/certain-women-review-michelle-williams-laura-dern-kristen-stewart-kelly-reichardt) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2016. The critic finds the film a splintered portrait of three loosely connected women whose stories turn on frustrations and failures of communication that are painful because they are nearly indescribable. The performances and the Montana setting are singled out for creating a deep chord of melancholy. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/movies/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-michelle-williams-laura-dern.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Leslie Felperin Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 24 January 2016. Festival review. The critic describes the film as elegantly wrought with Reichardt’s trademark attention to landscape, human-animal bonds, and expressive faces, but finds it a trifle academic, dry, and lacking narrative cohesion as three discrete stories laid side by side. The starriest cast and the exquisite final tale of inchoate longing receive particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/women-sundance-review-858864/) ## The Times — Camilla Long Rating ★★. 5 March 2017. The critic finds the film all fine detail and no fun, appreciating the detail teased out by superb actresses in loosely connected stories but concluding there are no grand statements or themes. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/camilla-long-film-review-certain-women-logan-wolverine-xtb6nz6cp) ## Collider — Aubrey Page Rating A-. 12 October 2016. The critic praises Reichardt's understated exploration of four women's emotional complexities in Montana, highlighting strong performances especially by Kristen Stewart and the film's tender, humorous ode to the female experience. They single out the quiet, affecting moments and visual warmth despite the cold setting. [Read the review](https://collider.com/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A-. 25 January 2016. Festival review. Certain Women is utterly enthralling with a glacial storytelling that has a mesmerizing effect. The critic singles out the careful way Reichardt establishes what the heroines are up against, including the cold, distance, arduous labor, and unwelcoming men. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/sundance-review-kelly-reichardts-certain-women-starring-michelle-williams-kristen-stewart-and-laura-dern-20160125/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 January 2016. Festival review. The film is a low-key but powerful examination of women under duress striving to survive. It singles out the heartfelt bond between characters played by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart as providing the story's most moving moments. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-michelle-williams-laura-dern/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2016. Festival review. Certain Women is a film suffused in uncertainties, with pictures that tend towards in-between moments memorable in a very private way. The critic singles out the gorgeous Montana landscape shot like a painting and the splendid actors who make it pure cinema. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/certain-women-2016-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## HeyUGuys — Luke Channell Rating 4/5. 12 October 2016. Festival review. The film is an exquisitely crafted, empathetic study of the female experience that will seriously impress fans of Reichardt's style. It singles out the third segment's emotionally resonant performances by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/certain-women-review/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 2016. Festival review. The critic appreciates Reichardt's patient capture of everyday struggles and quiet moments in the lives of four women, praising the realistic portrayal and cinematography while noting some meandering and uneven focus on stories. They highlight the gripping realism and the ode to middle America. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2016/10/sundance-film-review-certain-women/) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 9.0. 25 January 2016. Festival review. The review lauds the film's delicate construction and how small, quiet moments reveal character in three interconnected stories of ordinary women in Montana, emphasizing empathy built through actions and silence over big events. It singles out the restorative power of the stillness and performances that let subtle experiences speak. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/certain-women) ## Den of Geek — Edward Douglas Rating 2/5. 13 October 2016. The review calls the film one of Reichardt's most boring, criticizing its lack of story, character development, or emotional payoff across the three loosely connected segments. It singles out the beautiful cinematography as the only real positive while deeming the overall experience a waste of time compared to stronger 2016 releases. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/certain-women-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/certain-women.md