Black Mass
Rent & Buy
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
What critics thought
Critical response landed in solidly favorable but not rapturous territory, with Depp's transformation into Whitey Bulger drawing near-unanimous praise as a genuine return to form — even from those who found the film surrounding him only serviceable. The split was less about Depp and more about the script: admirers saw an elegantly restrained crime drama, while skeptics felt it borrowed too heavily from familiar gangster-film templates and squandered a genuinely extraordinary true story.
“fully convincing and frightening”
Todd McCarthy·The Hollywood Reporter
“the haunting legacy of Bulger's criminal deeds, and the lingering sense that no justice can erase their impact”
Eric Kohn·Indie Wire
“the film is never bad, but, given the gob-smacking true story, it's disappointing that it's not great”
Nicolas Barber·BBC Culture
“it's clear that the filmmakers wanted to turn this into Goodfellas and tried to shoehorn this story into a similar kind of seductive, funny, shocking gangster tale. ...Several scenes seem to want to be like the 'how am I funny?' scene in Goodfellas, but it's blatant”
Fred Topel·CraveOnline
Parents guide
- Violence
- severe
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- severe
- Substances
- moderate
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Drama, Crime, History
Cast & Crew
Scott CooperDirector
Johnny DeppJames 'Whitey' Bulger
Joel EdgertonJohn Connolly
Julianne NicholsonMarianne Connolly
Dakota JohnsonLindsey Cyr
Kevin BaconFBI Agent Charles McGuire
Benedict CumberbatchBilly Bulger
Peter SarsgaardBrian Halloran
Juno TempleDeborah Hussey
Jesse PlemonsKevin Weeks
David HarbourJohn Morris
Adam ScottFBI Agent Robert Fitzpatrick
Corey StollFred Wyshak
Tom HolkenborgComposer
Jez ButterworthWriter
Mark MalloukWriter
Masanobu TakayanagiCinematographyBlack Mass
The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
What critics thought
Critical response landed in solidly favorable but not rapturous territory, with Depp's transformation into Whitey Bulger drawing near-unanimous praise as a genuine return to form — even from those who found the film surrounding him only serviceable. The split was less about Depp and more about the script: admirers saw an elegantly restrained crime drama, while skeptics felt it borrowed too heavily from familiar gangster-film templates and squandered a genuinely extraordinary true story.
“fully convincing and frightening”
Todd McCarthy·The Hollywood Reporter
“the haunting legacy of Bulger's criminal deeds, and the lingering sense that no justice can erase their impact”
Eric Kohn·Indie Wire
“the film is never bad, but, given the gob-smacking true story, it's disappointing that it's not great”
Nicolas Barber·BBC Culture
“it's clear that the filmmakers wanted to turn this into Goodfellas and tried to shoehorn this story into a similar kind of seductive, funny, shocking gangster tale. ...Several scenes seem to want to be like the 'how am I funny?' scene in Goodfellas, but it's blatant”
Fred Topel·CraveOnline
Parents guide
- Violence
- severe
- Sex
- mild
- Profanity
- severe
- Substances
- moderate
- Intensity
- severe
Genres
Drama, Crime, History
Cast & Crew
Scott CooperDirectorJohnny DeppJames 'Whitey' BulgerJoel EdgertonJohn ConnollyJulianne NicholsonMarianne ConnollyDakota JohnsonLindsey CyrKevin BaconFBI Agent Charles McGuireBenedict CumberbatchBilly BulgerPeter SarsgaardBrian HalloranJuno TempleDeborah HusseyJesse PlemonsKevin WeeksDavid HarbourJohn MorrisAdam ScottFBI Agent Robert FitzpatrickCorey StollFred WyshakTom HolkenborgComposerJez ButterworthWriterMark MalloukWriterMasanobu TakayanagiCinematographyRent & Buy