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Blue Ruin

Play trailer Poster for Blue Ruin R 2014 1h 30m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
96% Tomatometer 144 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
An ominous piece of news sends a drifter (Macon Blair) back to his hometown to exact brutal -- and inept -- revenge for the deaths of his parents.
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Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin

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Critics Consensus

Smart, stripped-down, and thrillingly grim, Blue Ruin proves that a well-told revenge story can still leave its audience on the edge of their seat.

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Critics Reviews

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Ann Hornaday Washington Post Jan 5, 2015
4/4
The world doesn't need another empty genre exercise. But as Blue Ruin reminds us, it can always use more filmmakers of Saulnier's resourcefulness, sensitivity and quiet assurance. Go to Full Review
Keith Staskiewicz Entertainment Weekly Jan 5, 2015
A
With the same brand of realist irony the Coens used to cool down Blood Simple, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier slows the genre's heartbeat to gripping effect. Go to Full Review
Kate Muir The Times (UK) Jan 5, 2015
3/5
Blue Ruin starts promisingly with a hairy hobo living in a blue, rusty, bullet-holed Pontiac on a Delaware beach. Go to Full Review
Tom Cassidy Common Sense Media Jul 18, 2025
This crowdfunded indie film is a tense, exciting thriller that deals with extreme situations in a gripping and cinematic way. Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film Aug 19, 2024
A-
We see a pretty massive physical transformation in Dwight as well as a metaphorical one that was pretty fascinating. Go to Full Review
Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies Aug 19, 2022
4.5/5
I love being taken for a ride and not knowing what lies ahead, especially in a movie centered around deep, moody suspense. “Blue Ruin” took me for that ride, and I was completely invested until the very end. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Alpha B @RT16438397 4 days ago Atmospheric and tense. This is a carefully crafted thriller where nothing is wasted. Every scene, every bit of dialog has purpose. The definition of "show don't tell" See more Freja A @FrejaGaan Aug 19, 2026 Blue Ruin is a stripped-down, haunting thriller that finds beauty in the messiness of revenge. Its quiet tension and raw humanity make every moment feel painfully real, while the darkness never overwhelms the story’s emotional core. A bruising, beautifully made film that stays with you long after the credits roll. See more Tim B @SlimTim0707 Aug 10, 2026 Blue Ruin has elements that are interesting. The problem with it is that its characters are pretty lame and don't quite rise to the level of the material. This film reminds me of Rust Lake without the plot twists. See more Piya S @piyasqm Aug 8, 2026 Blue Ruin is a revenge movie for people who have absolutely no business attempting revenge. The plan is shaky, the execution is worse, and every victory comes with a fresh bill attached. Bleak, brutal, and quietly funny in the darkest possible way, it turns vengeance into a slow-motion car wreck you can’t stop watching. A grim little gem. See more Valerie L @OneSmartLady Aug 1, 2026 Thrilling and chaotic...the life of an estranged man we come to know and experience his shortcomings as we try to figure out the story line traveling down the highway in total suspense. Worth a watch. See more Daniel B @Gkchesterton Mar 1, 2026 I don’t understand how this movie has positive reviews. It was so bad. At every turn, the filmmaker chose the less compelling and less dramatic option opting for boring pointless long shots. I guess an attempt to establish gravitas? Didn’t work. But more to the point, it’s so full of plot holes. He drives around with a guy in his trunk, leaving his car in public places for a good part of a day and no one hears the guy screaming, and banging on the trunk? He drags what he thinks is that guy’s dead body along with him when he’s trying to escape from people trying to kill him? Instead of just fleeing with a shotgun, he puts the shotgun down to put a dead body in his car? Nothing in this movie made any sense And the lead actor was terrible. He had one facial expression the entire movie. Miss it See more Read all reviews
Blue Ruin

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis An ominous piece of news sends a drifter (Macon Blair) back to his hometown to exact brutal -- and inept -- revenge for the deaths of his parents.
Director
Jeremy Saulnier
Producer
Anish Savjani, Richard Peete, Vincent Savino
Screenwriter
Jeremy Saulnier
Distributor
Radius TWC
Production Co
Film Science, Neighborhood Watch
Rating
R (Strong Bloody Violence|Language)
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 25, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$258.1K
Runtime
1h 30m
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