Heaven Knows What

"It also helps that Holmes, Jones and Duress, as well as the mainly non-actors in secondary roles, all inhabit their characters with real conviction."

"For much of the movie, [the Safdies] keep the camera discomfitingly close to the characters, blurring out the background and immersing us in their telescoped world."

"By the end of Heaven Knows What, you see Ilya's fragile, unguarded soul through Harley's eyes, and the film's discordances sound like the music of the spheres."

"A narrowly constricted prison of desperation and need."

"It's just a portrait of emptiness, but it feels a lot like the real thing."

"Aesthetically, the Safdies' have made a picture of urgent, abrasive beauty."

"Fans of the cinematic street poet Larry Clark (Kids, Bully) might go for this, though the unexpected moments of dignity and compassion that deepen his characters are in short supply here."

"Lasts 90 minutes, but you could happily spend hours in the dangerous company of Harley."

"Cautiously recommended."

"The Safdies pull off this episodic plunge into a scuzz-nik world with brash, bracing immediacy: but it's Holmes' innate charisma that keeps you there."