Powerful and haunting, moody and un-even, like a slowly building hurricane, when Galveston reaches full force it will knock you down. Ben Foster and Elle Fanning give exceptional performances as two very different people with troubled lives who find themselves together in a terrible circumstance. Director Melanie Laurent proves she is as stunning behind the camera as she is in front of it. For fans of heavy noir style and deep south atmosphere. Galveston is a "must see".

Very well done to a level that is quite surprising - story line and acting by the two main characters alone make it worthwhile seeing. I had plan to watch a few minutes then turn it off because I really thought this movie would be a low end, not much to see here type of film. Boy was I wrong. There’s folks who live a hard life out there, folks who don’t get a lot of breaks. This is one of those stories. But in the end, I love the tribute that this movie really is to the original film noirs films of 1940-1955. Remember, in the true film noirs there are no heroes, only protagonists. And a key part of the theme of those film noirs was and is — the protagonist is often faced with decisions and in most cases, in the end, he (the protagonist) makes the morally right decision, even though he himself may be amoral. Galveston is true to that film noir theme, better than most modern day movies today, that try and take a shot (pun intended) at that type of theme. Although this is not a date movie, I highly recommend watching. It’s truly on the level of art making on film ...

Tedious exercise in watching a low level thug (not an assassin as described) make mistakes. Dumb ones. Had to fast forward the last 20 minutes to see if it got better. It didn't. Mostly watching people walking around a cheap motel. Had potential for 10 minutes then fizzled again.
Acting's solid and utterly wasted. Lighting's too dark, but there's really nothing to see regardless.
This script really didn't have any reason to be made into a movie. You will see more excitement and plot development sitting on the steps of porch in a slum... dreary and boring.

This film was described by some reviewers as being similar to a classic "film noir", but I disagree. I thought it was just a plain old Southern tragedy. It doesn't have the style of the classic noir films or a lot of the themes of that genre. I adore a good noir, but this movie was just damn depressing...so, so bleak. I really wish I had skipped this one! For a legitimate film noir try "Blood Simple", "Body Heat", "The Lady from Shanghai", or the 2 very best noir films: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (the Lana Turner version), and "Double Indemnity"

If you're a Ben Foster fan you'll love this one. It's not like alot ot his movies where he plays an Alpha Male, but he was great in that movie also. This did have action and shooting but also showed him as a caring or protector character. Some may say it was a little slow at the start but I thought it helped develope each character and laid the story out well. So dont pass this one up bc some idiot gives 1 star and only watches the first 10 min and quits watching. This would even make a good date night movie, something for everyone.

This film is an adaptation of Nic Pizzolatto's book of the same name. If you are a diehard fan of "True Detective," you'll recognize similar elements from the show. Director Laurent takes us on a roller coaster ride. She lingers on certain scenes, while speeding up others. There is a moody ambience from the book that, at times, doesn't translate effectively. As I read the book, I could imagine what Roy Cady would look like, and Ben Foster pulled it off. Elle Fanning stole the show as far I am concerned.

This isn't a fast film. You really need to sit down and take it all in. I love how Pizzolatto plays with memory, and creates two timelines, which is his signature style.

Without giving away the suspense of the story, I recommend reading the book first. Not entirely necessary to follow the plot in the movie but it has to be said anyway.

Definitely worth watching if you're into noir films. Hard boiled men, down on their luck women, fear, desperation, guns, cigarettes, booze... and lots of hard truths. It is all here.

This is a Texas of the mind. Not exactly a real place.

I just can't see. Maybe if they tried to light any of their scenes from behind the camera instead of behind the entire scene. So much darkness. Not emotional darkness. Literal darkness. You literally can't see anything. Maybe it's my amazing LG OLEDs true black. But I doubt it. I just think it's terrible cinema. "Let's make it so dark the viewers can't see anything happening". Genius. So trendy and cool. Maybe present it in the medium of an audio book instead. OH wait, that would require there to be any entertaining plot and writing. Scratch that. Also, it's very difficult to understand the actors. If you could have then annunciate more clearly, that'd be great. Thanks. And I'm from the south and could barely understand them. Also, if when writing the story and plot, if you could add literally anything that doesn't put a baby to sleep, that would be nice too. Maybe if literally anything happened at all the entire movie it would be more entertaining.

This film is about people that have had a tough life. The audience is taken on their journey, living that tough life. The acting is good, and the plot is interesting. However, while I feel for the characters. I really don’t need to watch people in miserable situations, and have the story drag along from one sadness to another. I was never bored, but I don’t think that I would have spent the time. To view this film, had I known more about the plot. I have real life all around me. So I prefer lighter entertainment, that allows me to forget about some of the misery in the world.