---
title: "Hillbilly Elegy: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/hillbilly-elegy/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/hillbilly-elegy"
critics_score: 31
critics_reviews: 30
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."
---

# Hillbilly Elegy (2020): what the critics said

Critics' score 31 from 30 reviews: 0 positive, 8 mixed, 22 negative.

The consensus on Hillbilly Elegy is strongly negative, with praise concentrated on the cast rather than the adaptation. Glenn Close attracts the most approval: several critics find her grandmother convincing and affecting even when the surrounding drama feels generic. Amy Adams also earns credit for commitment and emotional force, though enthusiasm for both performances is far from universal. A few reviews acknowledge polished craft, but find little urgency or emotional depth.

The central objections concern repetitive melodrama, thin characterisation and a treatment of poverty that neglects wider social conditions. Many critics see stereotypes where the film needs curiosity about its characters. The spread runs from qualified approval to outright rejection: Den of Geek finds an absorbing family drama despite its shallow social context, while The Guardian finds even Close and Adams unconvincing. Acting is the clearest dividing point; reservations about the film’s narrow account of hardship extend into the more sympathetic reviews.

## RogerEbert.com

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review’s verdict cannot be verified because the page is blocked. Its specific praise or criticism is unavailable in the retrieved text.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-movie-review-2020)

## Screen Daily — Fionnuala Halligan

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

The available text does not reveal the critic’s overall verdict. It singles out Glenn Close and Amy Adams for playing their roles to the hilt.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix/5154633.article)

## Radio Times — Trevor Johnston

Rating 3/5. 

The three-star rating suggests a mixed verdict. The review singles out Amy Adams’s showy performance and Glenn Close as a scene-stealer.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-sv1zgo/hillbilly-elegy/)

## Total Film — Jane Crowther

Rating 3/5. 10 November 2020. 

Crowther finds the film polished but pedestrian, criticizing its lack of bite and urgency. She singles out Glenn Close’s commanding performance as the film’s chief draw.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix/)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Sheri Linden

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

Linden finds the film sympathetic but less affecting than its subject matter warrants, with its crises becoming repetitive. She praises Amy Adams and Glenn Close for making the turbulent mother-daughter relationship vivid and convincing.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-4085832/)

## IndieWire — David Ehrlich

Rating C-. 10 November 2020. 

Ehrlich finds the adaptation forgettable and politically evasive, with Vance’s self-serving story left dramatically unsatisfying. He praises Glenn Close for resisting caricature and giving the film its most affecting, grounded performance.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-1234597691/)

## The AV Club — Katie Rife

Rating C-. 10 November 2020. 

Rife argues that the film reinforces stereotypes about Appalachia and reduces structural problems to personal failures. She singles out its caricatured characters and performances, while finding Glenn Close’s Mamaw the closest thing to a fully realized figure.

[Read the review](https://avclub.com/may-hillbilly-elegy-mark-the-end-of-trump-era-myth-maki-1845625283?amp=&amp=&amp=)

## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan

Rating 2/5. 20 November 2020. 

O'Sullivan finds the melodrama deeply conservative and argues that it reduces poverty to laziness and self-pity. She praises Amy Adams's performance and one striking camera shot, while criticizing the script for giving Glenn Close little to work with.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-netflix-b74160.html)

## Variety — Owen Gleiberman

Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

Gleiberman finds the adaptation overly safe and emotionally shallow, despite its lively performances. He especially praises Glenn Close’s meticulous, award-worthy work, while faulting the film for flattening J.D.’s struggles and Appalachia’s harsher realities.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-glenn-close-ron-howard-jd-vance-1234826719/)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

Chang finds the film politically hollow and reduced to histrionic performances, with little larger purpose. He singles out Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s over-the-top acting, while noting Adams has a few raw, affecting moments.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-11-10/hilbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-glenn-close)

## Sight and Sound — J.D. Valence

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 13 November 2020. 

The review finds the adaptation too constructed and emotionally distant, despite its effort and artistry. It praises the screenplay’s effective interweaving of J.D.’s childhood and later Ivy League studies.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/hillbilly-elegy-j-d-valence-appalachia-yale-memoir-ron-howard-amy-adams-glenn-close)

## Slant Magazine — Chris Barsanti

Rating 1/4. 10 November 2020. 

Barsanti finds the film a generic, bland feel-good story that loses the memoir’s broader social context. He praises Glenn Close for giving Mamaw a lived-in toughness and making sentimental dialogue convincing.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-hillbilly-elegy-sentimentalizes-a-true-life-story-of-poverty-and-dysfunction/)

## Empire — Terri White

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

White finds the adaptation generic and emotionally unconvincing, with its family story flattened by clichés. She praises Glenn Close and Amy Adams for committing to their roles, and singles out Owen Asztalos as compelling.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hillbilly-elegy/)

## Little White Lies — Madeleine Seidel

Rating 2/1/1. 11 November 2020. 

Seidel condemns the film as a spineless, misjudged melodrama that insults the people it claims to represent. She praises the performances by Amy Adams and Glenn Close but criticizes the film’s lazy stereotypes and sentimental approach.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/hillbilly-elegy)

## The i Paper — Geoffrey Macnab

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 19 November 2020. 

Macnab finds the film a dreary, charmless adaptation that lacks curiosity or sympathy for its Appalachian characters. He praises Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s performances, though he finds their conspicuous accents distracting.

[Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/hillbilly-elegy-review-strangely-charmless-portrait-how-to-watch-765733)

## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen

Rating 1/5. 11 November 2020. 

The critic pans the film as a tedious drama. They single out its overacting as a major flaw.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hillbilly-elegy)

## Vulture — Alison Willmore

Fi1m's normalised score 15/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2020. 

Willmore finds the film disjointed and ultimately empty, criticizing it for evading a clear point. She singles out its fragmented characterization and Amy Adams’s oversized scenes without a convincing emotional center.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-hillbilly-elegy-starring-amy-adams-and-glenn-close.html)

## The Guardian — Simran Hans

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2020. 

Hans finds the film a misjudged, caricatured adaptation that fails to create human empathy. She singles out Close and Adams’s performances as especially unconvincing, marked by platitudes and shrieking histrionics.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/29/hillbilly-elegy-review-glenn-close-amy-adams-ron-howard)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 2020. 

Brody pans the adaptation as reductive and politically regressive, arguing that its silences flatten the lives it depicts. He faults the film for denying its characters cultural and intellectual depth beyond their immediate family troubles.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-silent-political-messaging-in-ron-howards-hillbilly-elegy-adaptation)

## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 23 November 2020. 

The review is sharply negative about the film. It objects to the film’s condescending treatment of its characters.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review.html)

## Den of Geek — Don Kaye

Rating 3/5. 10 November 2020. 

The critic finds the film an absorbing family drama, but says its avoidance of the region’s politics and socioeconomic context makes it feel shallow. Amy Adams is singled out for a complex, emotionally raw performance.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-movie-amy-adams/)

## Paste — Jacob Oller

Rating 3.5/10. 13 November 2020. 

Oller strongly pans the film as muddled, dull award bait that treats its subjects with condescension. He singles out the performances of Glenn Close and Amy Adams as overblown and the characters as thinly drawn.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/hillbilly-elegy-review)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating 2/10. 10 November 2020. 

The critic condemns the film as childish, exploitative, and devoid of nuance or empathy. He singles out its caricatured characters and failure to address systemic problems as especially damaging.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/hillbilly-elegy-review/)

## NME

Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 

The critic finds the film a blinkered, cartoonish depiction of working-class life. They praise the subtle performances of the two actors playing J.D., while criticizing the one-dimensional portrayals of his mother and grandmother.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/hillbilly-elegy-review-netflix-2824300)

## The Wrap — Alonso Duralde

Fi1m's normalised score 15/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2020. 

The critic pans the film as condescending and politically simplistic rather than a meaningful account of poverty and addiction. They praise the cinematography and editing, but find the performances—especially Amy Adams’s—overwrought.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/hillbilly-elegy-film-review-ron-howard-glenn-close-amy-adams-netflix/)

## Consequence — Blake Goble

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

Goble finds the film disingenuous and shallow, reducing complex rural struggles to simplistic platitudes. He singles out its narrow scope and melodramatic execution, which he says leave the cast and subject matter poorly served.

[Read the review](https://consequence.net/2020/11/film-review-hillbilly-elegy/)

## Digital Spy — Ian Sandwell

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2020. 

Sandwell finds the film deeply unsuccessful, faulting its lack of nuance and simplistic message about escaping poverty. He also criticizes the melodramatic performances and familiar hillbilly stereotypes, despite the leads’ talent.

[Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a34769145/hillbilly-elegy-review-amy-adams-netflix/)

## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 15 January 2021. 

The critic calls the film superficial, repetitive and dull, arguing that its clichés obscure the lives it claims to depict. Glenn Close’s committed performance as the grandmother is singled out as a delight.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/hillbilly-elegy-2020-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)

## Polygon — Robert Daniels

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 10 November 2020. 

The critic condemns the film as a broad, melodramatic failure that misrepresents the Rust Belt. He particularly criticizes its overwrought performances and dialogue for turning trauma into emotional manipulation.

[Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/10/21559004/hillbilly-elegy-review-ron-howard-netflix-amy-adams/)

## The Ringer — Adam Nayman

Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2020. 

Nayman judges the film very bad, criticizing its melodrama and its failure to examine the culture it depicts. He notes that Glenn Close brings flashes of inspiration, but says her performance cannot offset the film’s flaws.

[Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2020/11/25/movies/hillbilly-elegy-review-bad-netflix-ron-howard-amy-adam)

---
© 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/hillbilly-elegy.md