Peter and the Farm
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: November 4, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critics
Positive:
12
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The PlaylistNoel MurraySep 8, 2016
Stone and his crew get the audience hooked on the mystery of this charismatic crank, and then take their time before they answer some of the bigger questions. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 3, 2016
It is the film’s cosmic dimension that makes it so special. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyNov 1, 2016
Transfixing in its workplace detail and haunting in its harsh commentary on a solitary existence. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichNov 4, 2016
This intimate, unvarnished, and occasionally transcendent micro-portrait may seldom leave Dunning’s property, but it takes stock of the whole world. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleNov 17, 2016
Peter and the Farm is ultimately a portrait of whatever the opposite of “getting back to nature” is: the cycle of the land as a circle of hell. Read full review
80
VarietyScott TobiasSep 8, 2016
With this rueful, cantankerous yet hugely charismatic figure at its center, Tony Stone’s beautiful documentary reveals the twin burdens of working the farm alone while beating back an encroaching inner darkness. Read full review
80
The GuardianNigel M SmithSep 8, 2016
Dunning recounts spellbinding tales that led to the gradual downfall of his expansive Mile Hill Farm, and the destruction of his two marriages. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 10, 2016
By looking closely, clinically and ultimately compassionately at one eccentric practitioner of a dying way of life...Peter and the Farm nevertheless manages to harvest not just understanding of one peculiar, broken little man, but a broader wisdom about the cycle of seasons that we all must endure on this planet. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 7, 2016
The vast majority of us are so far removed from any common farming past that we idealize it and the people who live that lifestyle. Peter and the Farm is a sober reminder of how hard and callous that life is, and will come as a shock to anybody with romantic dreams of “chucking it all” to live off the land. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyNov 4, 2016
A very unusual and rare kind of movie: one that is good in spite of itself. Which isn’t to say that the movie’s director and co-producer Tony Stone doesn’t make some provocative, interesting choices. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloNov 2, 2016
This is one tortured soul, and a rare case in which a farmer’s struggles seem to be entirely of his own making. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GraySep 8, 2016
Peter and the Farm is a warts-and-all portrait that asserts its subject's sense of purpose even as it seems to slip out of his grasp. Read full review
58
The Film StageTony HindsNov 3, 2016
Dunning is a documentarian’s wet dream, as honest and forthcoming as he is eagerly collaborative, which makes for a wildly entertaining, if occasionally self-indulgent experience. Read full review
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