Metacritic reviews

Grashaw's convincing drama distills this underexposed world into the story of a single young man trying to survive a system designed to break him.

The best thing about it is its star, P.J. Boudousqué, who locates a sense of terror and betrayal that the script lacks.

Suitable for teens — lies somewhere between indignant expose and unusually tasteful exploitation picture, with shower scenes and sweaty young delinquents aplenty.

Coldwater is almost boastfully grim.

The final act of Coldwater is horrendously misguided, the kind of insincere melodrama that erases the memory of what came before. It’s a particular shame because there’s an hour of decent filmmaking here.

Proceeding in a tone of unrelieved misery, Coldwater is a punishing, predictable drama that’s almost rescued by strong acting and good intentions.

Boudousque is young yet, and so he has room to grow as an actor, but he's got nothing but upside to him at this point. It'll be fun to watch his career grow from here.

Too many roles remain underdeveloped — if developed at all. A lack of cohesion or camaraderie among the inmates compounds the film's impersonal vibe.

Vincent Grashaw's film, although well-meaning (as a postscript reminds us), tries too hard, both in content and form.

It comes as no surprise that writer-director Vincent Grashaw wrote the first draft of this movie soon after graduating high school.