The Outpost
Screen Media Films | Release Date (Streaming): July 2, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TheWrapSteve PondJun 29, 2020
A riveting combat movie that aims to put viewers alongside American soldiers in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles in the long-running war, “The Outpost” takes the measure of what a few dozen men endured and finds heroism not in enemies killed but in compadres saved. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 7, 2020
Lurie has fashioned a worthy tribute to these brave American soldiers, some of whom paid the ultimate price. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 1, 2020
Skillfully directed by Rod Lurie, this engrossing and deeply wrenching thriller dances the same fine line as most latter-day movies that want to honor service and sacrifice, without lapsing into empty triumphalism. For the most part, The Outpost balances those competing impulses, with a canny combination of unadorned bluntness and technical finesse. Read full review
80
IGNMatt FowlerOct 14, 2020
The Outpost is a cleverly, and respectfully, crafted war film that uses a segmented, episodic approach to help you invest in the characters while building up to a very impressive battle sequence. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 3, 2020
The Outpost gets it crucially right by bringing home the meaning of heroism as a collective action. The you-are-there ferocity of this sequence, brilliantly abetted by the prowling, handheld camerawork of Lorenzo Senatore, ranks with the best interpretations of combat on film. Your nerves will be shattered, guaranteed. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 30, 2020
Such a film may suffer from home viewing, and yet, The Outpost represents the most exhilarating new movie audiences have been offered since the shutdown began. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 6, 2020
For those who appreciate the genre, this is a better-than-average merging of technical craftsmanship, narrative coherence, and competent acting. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoJul 3, 2020
While dozens of movies have sought to recreate the unimaginable horror of literally fighting your life, The Outpost connects more than most, thanks in large part to Lurie’s technical skill and a young cast that elevates what could have been overly familiar material. In particular, Scott Eastwood and Caleb Landry Jones do the best work of their respective careers. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJul 2, 2020
Another guns and glory war movie about young American soldiers having to shoot their way out of some rats nest they should never have been sent to in the first place, Rod Lurie’s The Outpost is a familiar but uncommonly visceral reminder of what it really means to “support the troops.” Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJul 2, 2020
The Outpost really is not a movie of wit or soaring inspirational speeches, but of no-holds-barred emotion. A story of young men in their 20s, with dreams and loved ones back home, who had the courage to risk it all for each other. Read full review
70
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJul 2, 2020
The Outpost evolves from what initially feels like a collection of war-movie commonplaces, highlighting crude-talking soldiers in a bad situation, into something more complex and illuminating. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJun 30, 2020
While lacking the technical virtuosity of Sam Mendes' "1917," for example, the movie nevertheless does full justice to its stirring true-life tale of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh — despite an obviously low budget. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 20, 2020
Given that his movie never gives us an opportunity to understand who these men are, it is hard to mourn them beyond a superficial fashion. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 29, 2020
An engrossing and immersive look at an isolated battle in “America’s Longest War,” a representative bloody stalemate in a country where that’s the best most of those fighting there can hope for. Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowryJul 10, 2020
The Outpost manages to be both harrowing and less than completely involving, a movie that can be admired for its visceral portrayal of war while leaving the characters underdeveloped. Read full review
60
Screen RantHannah HoolihanJul 2, 2020
The Outpost finds success in its thrilling, white-knuckling battle sequence, but rarely digs below the surface of the ones who fought in it. Read full review
58
The Film StageDan MeccaJul 1, 2020
The difficulty here, as with many a modern war film, is tone. There is an impetus to honor these soldiers while also criticizing the framework that led them into what is essentially a deathtrap in the middle of Afghanistan. Screenwriters Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy do their damndest to thread the needle, but the results do wear a bit thin. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenJul 2, 2020
The Outpost is a visceral battle picture but little more. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCary DarlingJun 30, 2020
Yet despite the interchangability of some of the characters, the last half of The Outpost — in which the two-day Battle of Kamdesh is condensed into an hour of horror — is a technical marvel, as the soldiers come under an attack as relentless as a tsunami. Read full review
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