EAST RIVER FILMWORKS
OUR FILMS
OPEN WATER
​"An expertly made suspense thriller" - Kevin Thomas,
Los Angeles Times
​"It gets under your defenses and sidesteps the "it's only a movie" reflex and creates a visceral feeling that might as well be real." - Roger Ebert
​"Two Thumbs Up" - Ebert and Roeper
​"A steady descent into pure fear. Chris Kentis has a born filmmaker's instinct. Somewhere I believe, Alfred Hitchcock is smiling." - Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly
​"One of the most galvanizing and unforgettable films of the year." - Rex Reed,
New York Observer
​"Diabolically clever! Fries your nerves to a frazzle!" - Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone
​"A taut, riveting, uncommonly well made film" - Anne Hornaday,
Washington Post
​"A tour-de-force thriller, highly effective and chillingly creepy." - Ronnie Scheib,
Variety
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SILENT HOUSE
​"Chris Kentis and Laura Lau previously joined forces on their superbly unsettling shark tale, Open Water. Here again the directors work with an understanding that implication is always more terrifying than visual revelation, and that there's nothing so nerve-rattling as sticking close to a panicked character unable to distinguish reality from her own unraveling." - Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly
​"Silent House imparts genuine scares by telling its story in one continuous camera shot. Kentis and Lau delight in pushing the boundaries of the technique. The film is hugely successful at manufacturing genuine, deep-seated scares instead of cheap shocks." - Ian Buckwalter,
The Atlantic
​"The long take pulls you into the realism of the moment, heightening any sense of unease already established by the story. In "Silent House", directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau exploit the hell out of that uneasiness and keep pushing the limits." - Eric Kohn,
IndieWire
​"A scary, yet thoughtful - art-house frightfest - Michael O'Sullivan,
Washington Post
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GRIND
​"This sharp debut collaboration between director Chris Kentis and cowriter/producer Laura Lau forgoes the contrived caper route, opting instead for powerful, human drama. Kentis and Lau present a refreshingly noncondescending, nearly verite portrait of blue-collar Jersey life and extract outstanding perfs from their able cast" - Critics' Choice,
The New York Daily News
​"The filmic equivalent of a Springsteen song. This is a subtler, more emotionally honest film than most American indies are concerned to come up with. In its own quiet, cumulative way this is an impressive, authoritative debut." - Tom Charity,
Time Out New York
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