55
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Film ThreatBradley GibsonFilm ThreatBradley GibsonThe filmmaker plays with our assumptions around justice and race. While A Lot of Nothing uses elements ripped from the headlines, in this context, what you expect to come from it will say more about you than it does the script. The revelation of the final act changes everything that has gone before. Hang onto the edge of your seat for a wickedly entertaining ride.
- 70TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceTheWrapRonda Racha PenriceFlawed writing doesn’t mean A Lot of Nothing has no value. McRae certainly shows promise as a director, if not a writer, with Noel, Coleman, Anderson, and Scott demonstrating they can handle complex portrayals well. It’s just unfortunate the story doesn’t live up to all their talents.
- 70VarietyJessica KiangVarietyJessica KiangEven if the onyx-dark humor and sardonic formal control go MIA eventually, “A Lot of Nothing” is really quite something.
- 60We Got This CoveredScott CampbellWe Got This CoveredScott CampbellDespite some third act wobbles, A Lot of Nothing marks a strong, stylish, and suspenseful debut from co-writer and first-time feature director Mo McRae.
- 60Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLos Angeles TimesNoel MurrayThere’s an earnest, yearning passion here that makes the film feel vital even at its clumsiest.
- 50The New York TimesLisa KennedyThe New York TimesLisa KennedyIn his feature debut, the director Mo McRae displays a nice way with actors and a gift for visual tension, but in aiming for absurdist humor, he lands on something more vexing. It’s the script — by McRae and Sarah Kelly Kaplan — that’s the problem.
- 50Screen RantMae AbdulbakiScreen RantMae AbdulbakiThe overall momentum stalls and prevents A Lot of Nothing from sticking its landing, but it's a promising debut from McRae, who has a strong grasp with regards to maintaining much of the film's tension through dialogue alone.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeThe film struggles to maintain the verve of this opening sequence (which nails a specific anxiety of liberal middle-class Black people), subsequently becoming a series of set pieces — some more energetic than others — in search of a thesis.
- 38RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonRogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonA Lot of Nothing takes a fraction of a stance on how Black people are socially caricatured and systemically discriminated against. So when the film reaches its big reveal and the discussion of it, it spins any assumption of intention into obscurity.