Metacritic reviews

It’s not exactly doing anything new, but it’s a muscular and textured piece of work that shifts assuredly through tones and genre, features a rich and rewarding performance from Cage, and another excellent turn from his young co-star Tye Sheridan.

If Joe marks a new beginning for some of its characters, the same description applies to its director and star.

Joe also stands as a reminder of what a terrific actor Cage can be when he is able to harness and channel his wilder impulses.

Cage, not one known for subtlety of late, is truly great in this sad, funny and tender role.

Joe’s brilliance doesn’t lie in its destination, but in the gripping, intense, surprisingly joyous and funny journey it takes to get there.

Joe is Cage's periodic reminder that he's one of his generation's great talents.

Director David Gordon Green finds a balance between symbolism and realism in his storytelling that allows the film to be many things at once.

Where it really works is in Cage's bone-deep characterization of a man at war with himself.

Joe represents a return to the independent-spirited storytelling that characterised Green’s early career.

A patiently observed, often unsettlingly violent drama that can’t help but feel overly familiar in some of its particulars, rich in rural texture but low on narrative momentum or surprise.