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All Creatures Here Below

Play trailer 1:30 Poster for All Creatures Here Below Released May 17, 2019 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Gensan and Ruby struggle to thrive in the face of abject poverty. When Gensan loses his job and gambles his last paycheck, he sets in motion a series of events with dire consequences. Racing across the country, they seek refuge in their hometown of Kansas City, a place filled with the dark secrets that have haunted them since they fled years ago.
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All Creatures Here Below

Critics Reviews

View All (21) Critics Reviews
Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com By the end, you're left with the scripted dramatic feature equivalent of a local TV news story that fills you with despair for the human race. Rated: 2.5/4 May 17, 2019 Full Review Katie Walsh Los Angeles Times The story takes some unbelievably tragic twists and turns, and along the way, Dastmalchian unfolds a riveting performance, aided by Schiffli's beautiful and unobtrusive style. May 17, 2019 Full Review Dennis Harvey Variety Schiffli directs with a nice balance between momentum and naturalism. Yet the creditable handling can't quite mask material that feels inorganically rooted in secondhand dramatic clichés. May 17, 2019 Full Review Chase Beck Battleship Pretension All Creatures Here Below presents escapism of a rarer kind, one that humanizes those whom we so often choose to disregard or marginalize. Dec 8, 2020 Full Review Charles Koplinski Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam The two leads are committed and must be commended but the script by Dastmalchian becomes far too melodramatic for its own good and winds up wasting their fine efforts. Rated: 2.0/4.0 Nov 18, 2020 Full Review Lonita Cook INKansas City Magazine Creatures is a provocative analysis on the destructive nature of hope. Hope is a potent drug and when overdosed keeps users hanging onto dreams and desires far too long. Nov 6, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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mark g Great movie, exceptional performances. But really bleak. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/13/24 Full Review prawnda s there is a baby crying for about 40% of the movie, and honestly i think there was no reason for the film to be made. what do they do to those babies that have to act in films to make them cry over and over? i've been a fan of dalmaschians recent films, but this one is unwatchable. no one wants to see this happen to a baby for an entire movie, and it's not developed or narratively poignant enough to have a real purpose. its like some kind of weird child abuse fetish film where the director only wants to put a baby in stressful situations. it literally takes an entire hour and 12 minutes for someone to say "you should probably give the baby back" in any serious way. the guy should have called the cops immediately when he saw that his girlfriend stole a baby, especially because it was at a time when they had literally no income in the household, and they dont seem to have tried to apply for easily available food stamps despite "benefits" being discussed with their case worker. it was confirmed that benefits wouldn't be cut off, yet they eat like 1 candy bar per day and pay for food with cash that they could use for something better for the entire movie. the entire film is just a waste of time with no message, a poor misconception of poverty, and while i enjoyed the director's previous film "animals", i don't think i will watch another movie from him ever again, because he clearly does not value the viewer's time. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/24 Full Review Gene S Top shelf acting with a complex, deep, dark story. Great movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/21/23 Full Review Mark D Possibly the most depressing film I've ever seen! Wow! This one sure takes the cake, when it comes to depressing storylines. We first meet this young couple. Neither one has much going for them. She's in trouble at her menial job cleaning a church. He's a pizza slinger. Then things get way worse. He's let go from his job because the restaurant where he works is closing. Se he gets his last paycheck. Now a normal person would hang on to the money and look for another job. But he decides to put the entire $250 on a cockfight. As luck would have t, the fight gets raided. On his way out, he runs across the person who has his money. He ends up stabbing the guy to get his money and flees. So now he's on the lam. Well, his girlfriend ends up kidnapping a baby who lives across the alley. So both of them are on the run. And things only get worse. They make just about every bad decision you could make. It's absolutely cringeworthy. And it just keeps getting more and more depressing. Watch this one if you want to feel lousy for the rest of the day. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review ronald h I'm at a loss as far as rating this movie. I ended up with two stars for the impassioned performances by David Dastmalchian and Karen Gillian. The production values are quite good, too. But this is, without a doubt, one of the bleakest and most dismal films I've ever seen. Not all films have to have a message; sometimes they're just entertaining. But there's zero entertainment here. With material this dark, I thought that perhaps there must be some kind of purpose or message, but I couldn't find one. Just utter despair. The most infuriating thing about this film is that it's so well done. It takes a cue from Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," a novel that is so beautifully written but achingly sad at the same time. I guess that's what the filmmaker was going for here. But I kept getting a sense of manipulation and exploitation. There are a couple of scenes in this film that literally made me want to turn away. It's not a bad movie at all, just an extremely unpleasant one. I hesitate to recommend it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Director Colin Schiffli crafts a disturbing romantic crime tragedy that will stick with any viewer who watches it. The two main leads are portrayed heartbreakingly by the actors playing them, adding subtleties and emotions to their performances that feel real and nuanced. The story is also brilliantly written by its lead David Dastmalchian, proving that despite the supporting roles he is usually regulated to, he works just as well as a storyteller as he does a lead. The story is injected with passion from beginning to end, crafting low-life yet emotionally attachable characters that are willing to do anything to accomplish their dreams no matter how corrupt and fanatical they are. This is only further accompanied by beautiful visual direction, allowing the film to flow like poetry with its inclusion of subtle repetition and symbolism. This film is emotionally gravitating coming from a place of passion from a cast and crew of amazing storytellers that, despite its controversial plot, is able to craft a deep character study that will give any viewer a heartwarming and breaking experience. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/03/22 Full Review Read all reviews
All Creatures Here Below

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Gensan and Ruby struggle to thrive in the face of abject poverty. When Gensan loses his job and gambles his last paycheck, he sets in motion a series of events with dire consequences. Racing across the country, they seek refuge in their hometown of Kansas City, a place filled with the dark secrets that have haunted them since they fled years ago.
Director
Collin Schiffli
Producer
Nacho Arenas, Amy Greene, Chris Stinson
Screenwriter
David Dastmalchian
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co
Planeo Films, Samuel Goldwyn Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 17, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 20, 2019
Runtime
1h 31m
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