Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

White Lightnin'

2009 1h 24m Drama List
81% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 72% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
Dancer Jesco White (Edward Hogg) struggles with poverty, drug abuse and other ills as he strives to follow in his famous father's footsteps. Read More Read Less

Where to Watch

White Lightnin'

Prime Video Apple TV

Rent White Lightnin' on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Reviews

View All (16) Critics Reviews
Tom Long Detroit News There's a crazy-dirty energy to White Lightnin' that's rarely seen in films, a raw beauty and awfulness that's both scary and exciting. Rated: B+ Feb 26, 2010 Full Review Patrick Peters Empire Magazine Dominic Murphy's pseudo-biopic is as visually assured as it is audacious, but behind the slickly edited imagery, the debutant's storytelling is exposed by shallow characterisation. Rated: 3/5 Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Trevor Johnston Time Out This debut British feature weaves sundry biographical details into an awkward cross-hatch of oblique celluloid portrait and backwoods horror thriller. Rated: 2/5 Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Pamela Jahn Electric Sheep Merging real-life events and unbridled fiction, writers (and co-producers) Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti have crafted a bold, nightmarish tale of Southern darkness... Sep 27, 2017 Full Review Anton Bitel Film4 From its bleakly comic beginning to its fire-and-brimstone ending, this artful trailer-trash quasi-biopic will set your heart pounding and your feet tapping. Rated: 4/5 Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Tim Evans Sky Cinema Former commercials director Dominic Murphy has conjured up a brutally compelling tale distinguished by a manically unhinged performance from British actor Edward Hogg. Rated: 3/5 Sep 25, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (58) audience reviews
Michael D L Edward Hogg is a modern day Peter O'Toole, both huge talents. Intense and primitive from beginning to end. Being from WV myself I can assure you there are plenty of good folk...you go around. Iconic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Loosely inspired by the life of Jesco White, Dominic Murphy's feature film debut is a nightmarish journey into the underworld of Appalachia. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Frances H Although well-filmed with some beautiful black and white scenes, the question here is why? Why would someone who so ruined his life be glorified in a film like this? The dancing was interesting and the main reason I watched this film. I could see the connection between this form and Irish step dancing, such as Lord of the Dance, or even James Cagney's style in Yankee Doodle Dandy. But the rest of the film made Appalachia seem the haunt of just poverty (which is true} and horrendous drug use and violence (which I'm sure is not the whole story). I'm sure Jesco White's story is not unique, but I wonder if it is the rule, either. From the people we see in this film, Appalachia is a place one would want to stay as far away from as the worst slums of New York City or L.A. Between this film and Deliverance, I think native Appalachians should lobby Hollywood to give them better image. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/22/14 Full Review william s The early years entertaining,the middle years amussing and the last years bewildering....the end was unsatisfying Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A demonic tragedy that is shot differently but mostly sloppily. Begins better then it ends and derails far from the true story. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Crazy acid trip of a movie. Its more of a horrific nightmare than anything. Insane! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
White Lightnin'

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
We Need to Talk About Kevin 75% 78% We Need to Talk About Kevin Summer 78% 62% Summer Fish Tank 91% 79% Fish Tank TRAILER for Fish Tank 360 19% 32% 360 The Big Shot-Caller 23% 57% The Big Shot-Caller Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All White Lightnin' photos

White Lightnin'

White Lightnin' (2009) White Lightnin' (2009) White Lightnin' (2009) White Lightnin' (2009) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Dancer Jesco White (Edward Hogg) struggles with poverty, drug abuse and other ills as he strives to follow in his famous father's footsteps.
Director
Dominic Murphy
Producer
Mike Downey, Sam Taylor
Screenwriter
Eddy Moretti, Shane Smith
Production Co
UK Film Council
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 10, 2017
Runtime
1h 24m
Most Popular at Home Now