The film received a five-minute standing ovation following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival . '' The Hollywood Reporter '' , '' People '' , and '' Essence '' , among others , pegged it as an Oscar contender . Ann Hornaday of '' The Washington Post '' heralded the film and its director , Jeff Nichols , by stating : " Rather than deliver a rote — if rousing — rehearsal of the facts of the Lovings ' case , Nichols makes the counterintuitive decision to allow them to live in front of the camera . " , with Hornaday continuing by praising him as " too astute a filmmaker to be unaware of the analogies " Loving " invites regarding marriage equality , but he wisely leaves agendas and polemics behind . " Stephanie Zacharek of '' Time '' called it " beautifully restrained " and wrote , " Nichols ... tells the Lovings ' story in a way that feels immediate and modern , and not just like a history lesson . " Kate Taylor of '' The Globe and Mail '' spoke most highly of Edgerton and Negga , with Taylor stating , " Negga and Edgerton make these noble people three-dimensional , turning a docile , unambitious couple with neither the self-knowledge nor the words to launch a social revolution into unlikely protagonists in the civil-rights movement . " Richard Lawson of '' Vanity Fair '' felt that " Edgerton is one of the more dynamic movie actors of his generation , and brings true commitment to his zipped-up , laconic portrayal of Richard , a man whose passion for his wife and family ran deep and quiet . " Michelle Dean of '' The New Republic '' spoke most highly of the performances , writing , " Edgerton is likely to get more attention , though it is Negga 's incredible performance that makes the film so powerfully subtle . " Joe Morgenstern of '' The Wall Street Journal '' wrote , " Loving honors its subject , its audience and the movie medium . " Peter Travers of '' Rolling Stone '' gave the film a three and a half-star rating , and said : " The stabbing simplicity of Negga 's acting is breathtaking . Jeff Nichols has given us a quietly devastating film that resonates for the here and now and marches to the cadences of history and the heart . " In her review for '' The New York Times '' , Manohla Dargis wrote , " Nichols ' most distinct aesthetic choice is the movie 's quietness and the hush that envelops its first scene and that eventually defines the Lovings as much as their accents , gestures , manners and battles
Cannes Film Festival
2016 Cannes Film Festival
Loving (2016 film)