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Sammie Purcell

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Sammie Purcell is an associate editor, entertainment reporter, and movie critic for Rough Draft Atlanta. She is a member of the Atlanta Film Critics Circle and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Primate (2025) 78% EDIT “[The monkey] is the true calling card of "Primate," which otherwise is a fairly standard slasher, filled with forgettable performances but some truly gnarly gore and practical effects.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review All That's Left of You (2025) 100% EDIT “"All That’s Left of You" mines the lineage of this family in all its hurt and joy with the knowledge that we can’t understand anything — not hate, nor power, nor love, nor ourselves — in a vacuum. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) 87% EDIT “Hauntingly modern in its visuals yet divorced from modernity at the same time, "The Testament of Ann Lee" is a story about the nature of community and belief, about suffering and joy in equal measure. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review H Is for Hawk (2025) 80% EDIT “"H is for Hawk" considers the thorniness of [grief], accentuated by the beauty of Charlotte Bruus Christensen’s cinematography and anchored by a quietly moving lead performance from Claire Foy.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review A Private Life (2025) 81% EDIT “...for as fun as [its] premise is, the screenplay gets a bit convoluted by the film’s end, the answer to this mystery not nearly as satisfying as it originally portends to be. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review Send Help (2026) 93% EDIT “"Send Help" is like a cross between "Survivor," and "Fear Factor," and "Bachelor in Paradise" or "Love Island," all infused with Raimi’s signature brand of gory, glorious stupidity.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review The Moment (2026) 64% EDIT “... "The Moment" offers a scathing look at the corporatized artistic landscape that Charli exists within, pointing fingers at other artists who have given in, but also not letting herself off the hook.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 11, 2026 Full Review Whistle (2025) 61% EDIT “"Whistle" is not quite as successful as [the movies and shows it's emulating], but it has solid performances and enough gnarly kills to be a good time. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Feb 9, 2026 Full Review Nouvelle Vague (2025) 92% EDIT “"Nouvelle Vague" is perfectly well made, well acted, and enjoyable – light, cozy entertainment that will most likely delight cinephiles in its exploration of how one of the most influential films of all time came to be.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review The Running Man (2025) 62% EDIT “"The Running Man" [is] a movie that’s a little too absurd for how seriously it takes itself.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (2025) 98% EDIT “...with "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk," [Sepideh] Farsi has proven once again that powerful emotion doesn’t have to stem from big, sweeping visuals. It can come from something as simple as an iPhone. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Wicked: For Good (2025) 66% EDIT “I can’t say that "Wicked: For Good" doesn’t have its moments ... But, outside of those few moments, "Wicked: For Good" feels immensely slow and ill-conceived. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Train Dreams (2025) 95% EDIT “Just like with "Sing Sing," in "Train Dreams" [Clint] Bentley and [Greg] Kwedar take a story that could easily feel trite or overwrought and instead come up with something deeply humane. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Eternity (2025) 76% EDIT “...while it’s certainly entertaining, the lack of tension while you’re waiting for the inevitable to happen – or getting annoyed when the movie tries to pretend like something else will happen – makes "Eternity" feel far longer than its ... runtime.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Peter Hujar's Day (2025) 92% EDIT “[Ira] Sachs takes a simple story about the minutiae of being a living, breathing, working artist and gives it a cinematic edge.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Jay Kelly (2025) 75% EDIT “["Jay Kelly" is] not subtle by any means, but the pure anguish that runs under the surface of [Noah] Baumbach’s latest work rings harsh and true by the film’s end.” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Hamnet (2025) 86% EDIT “While a bit clunky in its narrative setup, "Hamnet" slowly nestles into your heart, evolving into a beautifully considered meditation on art and legacy...” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review The Housemaid (2025) 74% EDIT “This is a genre that thrives not on characters, or plot, or good writing, but rather on its ability to make you gasp, laugh, and groan in equal measure. And in that respect, "The Housemaid" does not disappoint. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Song Sung Blue (2025) 77% EDIT “...the best parts of "Song Sung Blue" have nothing to do with [its] twists, but instead with the crowd pleasing charm and the musical spectacular of the two performers at the film’s center. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Marty Supreme (2025) 94% EDIT “...at its heart, "Marty Supreme" is also a movie about coming into your own and growing up — all wrapped up in an immensely entertaining thrill ride. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Jan 2, 2026 Full Review Urchin (2025) 96% EDIT “As a filmmaker, [Harris] Dickinson certainly wears his references on his sleeve, but he also avoids a lot of the pitfalls that first-time filmmakers can so easily fall into. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Nov 11, 2025 Full Review The Mastermind (2025) 90% EDIT ““The Mastermind” is exploring the same things [Kelly] Reichardt has always been interested in – the psyche of a uniquely American person at any given moment in time, discontent with their life but unsure of what it is they want. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Nov 11, 2025 Full Review Blue Moon (2025) 90% EDIT “Within Lorenz Hart, [Robert] Kaplow [and Richard Linklater] find the innate tension of the human condition – our self-destructiveness, our complexity, and our desire to be loved. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Nov 11, 2025 Full Review A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (2025) 75% EDIT ““A House of Dynamite” is far less concerned with competence or lack thereof, and more concerned with what war means in the nuclear era. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Nov 11, 2025 Full Review Ballad of a Small Player (2025) 49% EDIT “...despite its operatic sense of style, “Ballad of a Small Player” is missing the buoyancy of [Edward] Berger’s previous film. The stakes feel nonexistent, the characters disconnected, and the whole thing oddly lifeless. ” – Rough Draft Atlanta Nov 11, 2025 Full Review
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