--- title: "High Flying Bird: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/high-flying-bird/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/high-flying-bird" critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 17 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." --- # High Flying Bird (2019): what the critics said Critics' score 76 from 17 reviews: 14 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like High Flying Bird, and they like it for the same reasons. The praise clusters on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s script, with its fast, dense, jargon-heavy dialogue, and on André Holland’s performance as the sports agent at the centre of it, which The Ringer calls star-making. Soderbergh’s decision to shoot on an iPhone is mostly treated as a strength, giving the film immediacy and intimacy, though Radio Times suspects some viewers will find the images flat. The ideas draw warm notices: race, labour and who owns the game are taken seriously. The reservations are about shape. Vulture finds the storytelling unshapely and wants more actual basketball; Collider thinks the small scale leaves the themes cramped. The spread is narrow, with most scores between 75 and 85. The one clear dissent comes from Screen Daily, which finds it an unconvincing, stagy exercise with little to say about the business it examines. ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2019. Festival review. Shot on an iPhone and working off a killer script by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this is vintage Soderbergh carried by André Holland. It soars as a brilliant Netflix basketball drama. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/high-flying-bird-review-slamdance-2019-1202036955/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 February 2019. The critic finds the film a welcome and unexpected dazzling examination of issues in pro basketball, with immediacy, drama, and smart dialogue. The savvy McCraney script, with its iconoclastic ideas and fast-paced dialogue, is singled out for praise alongside Holland's energetic performance. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-high-flying-bird-review-20190207-story.html) ## Little White Lies — Adam Woodward Rating 4/4/4. 7 February 2019. The critic praises the film's understated brilliance and its examination of race, sport, and money in America, highlighting Soderbergh's radical methods and the script's avoidance of sentimentality. It singles out the insightful portrayal of the sports agent's moral integrity and the innovative iPhone shooting style. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/high-flying-bird) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2019. Soderbergh's film considers modern media as a vehicle for revising white patriarchal capitalism while acknowledging the allure of the game rather than changing its rules. It dramatizes a scheme to upend the distribution of sporting events and give more power to players amid endemic racism. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/high-flying-bird-review-steven-soderbergh/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 February 2019. The critic calls the film a sharp and layered drama about basketball and power dynamics in the NBA, another slam dunk for Soderbergh and Netflix. It singles out the bold take on race and sport, passed between the director and screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/07/high-flying-bird-review-netflix-steven-soderbergh) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 February 2019. The review calls the film a boldly creative D.I.Y. look at the business and politics of sports, particularly race and economic inequalities. It highlights Soderbergh's low-budget freedoms and the script's focus on changing the system through a sports agent's scheme. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/high-flying-bird-reviewed-steven-soderberghs-boldly-creative-look-at-the-politics-of-sports) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating B. 7 February 2019. Soderbergh imagines a future without owners in this low-fi Netflix drama about an agent trying to return power to players during an NBA lockout. It pulls off a satisfying heist-like structure while acknowledging that the underlying problem of power distribution remains unsolved. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/we-ll-never-see-steven-soderbergh-s-moneyball-but-his-1832442409) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2019. Festival review. The film is a sharp-minded look at high-stakes action in the professional basketball world during a lockout. It provides a tart behind-the-scenes look at the financial side of sports and the potential for labor unrest. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/high-flying-bird-review-1179912/) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2019. Festival review. The review describes the film as a timely, mesmerizingly talky drama about race and power in sports, with a subversive view of money and stratification. The sharp, rapid-fire dialogue and immediacy from its iPhone production are highlighted, though it notes less success with characters. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/high-flying-bird-review-slamdance-1203120257/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 3 February 2019. The film is compelling despite narrative flaws and unshapely storytelling, with a mournful tone marinated in righteous resentment about exploitation in the NBA. It excels in juicy dialogue scenes and performances but has too little basketball and leaves some plot elements unclear. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/steven-soderbergh-high-flying-bird-movie-review.html) ## Radio Times — Andrew Collins Rating ★★★. The review notes that the film offers a crash course in NBA lockouts and weaves a talky story with strong performances, while commenting on the iPhone cinematography that some may find flat, and the metatextual Netflix references. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/high-flying-bird-netflix-movie-review-soderberghs-got-game/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2019. Festival review. The critic finds it an oddly unconvincing exercise despite Soderbergh's cerebral cool, noting it's a stagy examination that lacks insightful commentary on the business of basketball, though pertinent issues on race and class are present. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/high-flying-bird-slamdance-review/5135941.article) ## Film Comment — Mark Asch Soderbergh uses the NBA lockout to explore basketball players as gig-economy laborers and content creators in a streaming-dominated industry, and as Black workers navigating white-controlled power structures. The film employs an iPhone-shot aesthetic and heist-like structure to focus on the behind-the-scenes business of the sport. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/the-big-screen-high-flying-bird/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 7 February 2019. The critic praises the film as an exhilarating and argumentative caper that uses basketball to explore labor, capital, and racial injustice in a feisty, twisty fable. Soderbergh's iPhone-shot craft and McCraney's densely layered script are singled out for their ingenuity and intellectual demand. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/movies/high-flying-bird-review.html) ## The Times — Ed Potton Rating ★★★☆☆. 8 February 2019. The critic describes the wordy, witty basketball drama as a different beast from Soderbergh's previous iPhone film, with a classy cast and anger at the sport becoming a business. It singles out the moral heartbeat of the piece for praise while noting some stagey speech and baffling politics. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/high-flying-bird-review-xl2hxl2pz) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2019. The critic highlights the film's layered self-reflexivity about the basketball and movie businesses, lauding McCraney's sharp, musical dialogue and Soderbergh's restrained direction that emphasizes distance and focus. It singles out André Holland's star-making performance and the thematic depth on labor, race, and disrupting systems as particularly strong. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2019/02/08/movies/high-flying-bird-steven-soderbergh-review) ## Polygon — Karen Han Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 2019. The critic commends the film's sharp focus on exploitation and control in the sports industry, calling out the effective use of real player interviews and Holland's rhythmic delivery of McCraney's dialogue. They note Soderbergh's iPhone approach creates intimacy while underscoring themes of autonomy, concluding it is one of Netflix's best with only minor quibbles about the distributor portrayal. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/8/18215950/high-flying-bird-netflix-review-steven-soderbergh) ## The Playlist — Kimber Myers Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2019. Festival review. Soderbergh delivers a sharp, witty NBA drama centered on a sports agent navigating a league lockout and broader issues of power and race in sports. The critic highlights the film's engaging script, strong performances, and joyful execution as a standout effort. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/high-flying-bird-soderbergh-review-20190127/) ## The Skinny — Ross McIndoe Rating 4/5. 14 February 2019. Soderbergh delivers an unglamorous, street-level sports drama about an agent navigating an NBA lockout, using iPhone cinematography to highlight players' rage against corporate owners and the business side of the game. The film is demanding and jargon-heavy, with occasional stilted moments, but offers a distinctive, seize-the-means perspective unlike typical sports movies. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/high-flying-bird) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating B. 8 February 2019. The critic praises the film's dense, captivating ideas about the business of sport, race, and power imbalances in the NBA during a lockout, comparing it favorably to a potential Soderbergh-directed Moneyball. They note it remains fascinating despite feeling constrained by its iPhone shooting style and limited scope, wishing it had more room to explore its themes. [Read the review](https://collider.com/high-flying-bird-review-netflix/) --- © 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/high-flying-bird.md