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Lights in the Dusk
Metascore
57 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    75
    Kaurismaki's characteristically minimalist humor and wry empathy make brief appearances, but be warned: His Helsinki is a cold, dark place unfit for all but the hardiest visitors.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    If you're new to Kaurismaki, the film will make you a fan. If you've seen everything else he's ever done, the comedy will confirm your commitment.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    75
    It's a handsome production, and a pleasure to watch. With a shadowy palette and a set design reminiscent of Edward Hopper's nocturnes, a soundtrack hearkening back to the sounds of vintage rock 'n' roll, and a cast of characters straight out of a James M. Cain novel.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    75
    There's great music, an excellent dog, and that indescribable Kaurismäki tension between misery and a cosmic joke.
  5. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    67
    Kaurismäki's spare style and economical storytelling are well-suited to this particular story about loneliness, as the director never muddies the frame with sentimental dross or lugubrious inclinations.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    67
    Without Kaurismäki to introduce these lonely, forgotten souls to audiences, who's going to be his friend?
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    60
    There's a dry humor underlying the absurdity of Koistinen's experience. When things cannot possibly get worse, they do.
  8. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    50
    So stylized and slow-moving (even at a spare 75 minutes) that you may have trouble adapting to its hypnotic rhythms -- but if you can, there are sumptuous visual rewards to be found, plus the faintest emotional uptick right at the end.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    50
    Lights in the Dusk finds veteran Finnish helmer Aki Kaurismaki treading water with an amiable but very undercooked noirish fable about a security guard done wrong by a femme fatale.
  10. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    40
    Lights will put in more appearances at festivals before achieving a brief theatrical window for Kaurismaki devotees to gaze through. Most will do so with discouragement.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nathan Lee
    40
    Lights in the Dusk derives scant excitement from its melodramatic plot, which satisfies a dismal, ineluctable formula with stultifying efficiency. Nor is it enlivened by the airless performances.
  12. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    40
    This spare, minimalist film is not realistic. It has the simplicity of a silent movie, and the blocking of the actors, especially in the scenes with Koistinen and Mirja, emphasizes the distances between them.
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