The East Reviews
Examiner.com
Provocative and exciting, with bigger set pieces and a fierce devotion to character development, this is the sort of smart genre thriller that Hollywood needs more of.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Rip It Up
Marling's committed performance is offset slightly by Skarsgård's glumness and the 'surprise' casting of Page, who plays the part like Juno grown up (sort of) and turned vengeful communist psychopath.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Popcorn Junkie
Immaculately made with a thought-provoking emphasis on corporate espionage, it's just missing intensity and grit
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Movie Talk
If you start off seeing the film's moral world in simple black and white terms - greedy one percent on one side; righteous activists on the other - you'll be left uneasy... but Marling and Batmanglij deliver gripping suspense and challenging ideas.
The Dissolve
The biggest issue with The East is that Batmanglij and Marling so thoroughly rig the script in the environmentalists' favor.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
About.com
an engaging and almost uncomfortably thought-provoking dramatic thriller about what we -- as individuals and as a society -- value most.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
Reel Film Reviews
...a completely average piece of work that pales in comparison to Sound of My Voice.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
Shadows on the Wall
The story holds our interest because of the big issues at hand rather than the cold-fish characters.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Observer [UK]
It all adds up to an intelligent romp which keeps one eye on timely issues (activists or terrorists?) and the other on entertainment.
Birmingham Mail
What counts here is the characters' sense of rebellion, their susceptibility to the persuasive actions of others and the bravery of the lead character to try to stop them in their tracks.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Scotsman
Batmanglij and his cast invest the story with enough nuance and feeling to make the thriller that unfurls feel like it matters.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
The filmmakers seem to believe the mere fact of their earnestness makes their movie more worthwhile than a more exciting 'escapist' spy thriller.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/4
Digital Spy
The East suffers from a critical identity crisis, squandering an initially intriguing premise to veer awkwardly between intimate character study and formulaic espionage thriller. It satisfies on neither count.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Contactmusic.com
Despite a bunch of cold characters and a deeply contrived plot, this film is so infused with hot topicality that we are held in its grip all the way through.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
MLive.com
Marling's creative input assures a healthy dosage of philosophical fodder within a solid what's-next plot that keeps us involved and guessing, even when it's implausible.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Radio Times
The love story feels a bit forced, but otherwise it's an intelligent examination of the dangers of both fanaticism and espionage ...
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
This is London
A slick, grungy espionage thriller so in tune with the times it's almost uncanny.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Daily Express
Has more to offer than your average US thriller.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Little White Lies
A zeitgeist-grabbing indie spy thriller exploring the rise of techno-savvy anti-authoritarian movements lurking in the darkest recesses of the internet.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Brit is a hit as the spy who is split in two. Her covert performance twisting and turning from one side to the other keeps us guessing to the end.
Full Review
| Original Score: 6/10
