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Debbie Lynn Elias

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Debbie Lynn Elias has been a published film critic for over 30 years with weekly reviews and interviews carried in publications in print and online around the globe. (Her first published review was in January 1977 covering "Network".) She is also creator and host of the weekly radio show, "Behind The Lens" on Adrenaline Radio. An award-winning producer and writer, she spent years honing her technical and creative skills in tv and film production, as well as journalism and film criticism, and uses that training, education, and experience to bring unique and interesting perspectives to her film reviews and interviews. A longtime advocate and supporter of independent film and first-time filmmakers, Debbie is still active in film production, often serving as a consultant providing a critical eye to filmmakers during post-production, and focuses much of her attention and analysis on the indie film world. She also moderates, hosts premieres, post-screening Q&As, in-depth panel discussions, and more. Long a champion of film and television preservation efforts, she is a member of the prestigious Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Tow (2025) 81% EDIT “Tow is funny, sad, frustrating, empathetic, and quietly enraging, often within the same scene...about how one woman, denied dignity at every turn, keeps speaking until the world has no choice but to hear her.” – Behind The Lens Mar 20, 2026 Full Review Hamlet (2025) 83% 3.5/5 EDIT “A fresh, invigorating 21st-century take that feels both modern and true to The Bard...one of the most compelling and visually striking adaptations of HAMLET in recent memory.” – Behind The Lens Mar 20, 2026 Full Review The Optimist: The Bravest Act Is Truth (2023) 94% EDIT “Taylor’s filmmaking is careful, restrained, and rigorously thought through, always in service of point of view and emotional truth...an exquisite piece of storytelling—visually precise, musically sensitive, and ethically serious.” – Behind The Lens Mar 17, 2026 Full Review Touch Me (2025) 90% 3.5/5 EDIT “A wacky, wildly imaginative ride that gleefully blends horror, comedy, science fiction, and exploitation cinema homage into something that is at once outrageous and oddly heartfelt.” – Behind The Lens Mar 17, 2026 Full Review Cold Storage (2026) 79% EDIT “Cold Storage is smart, propulsive, unapologetically entertaining genre filmmaking that understands both its audience and its craft.” – Behind The Lens Mar 15, 2026 Full Review Scared to Death (2024) 70% EDIT “A sly, affectionate, genre mash-up that doubles as both a haunted-house spookshow and a meta love letter to horror movies—and to the film business itself. ” – Behind The Lens Mar 11, 2026 Full Review Hellfire (2026) 3.5/5 EDIT “A Western-shaped moral reckoning, executed with craft, patience, and a controlled burn that turns to true hellfire exactly when it should.” – Behind The Lens Feb 19, 2026 Full Review Misdirection (2025) EDIT “Misdirection marks a striking tonal shift for [Kevin] Lewis, trading overt genre mechanics for a performance-driven, tightly contained thriller.” – Behind The Lens Feb 6, 2026 Full Review In Cold Light (2025) 54% EDIT “A slow-burn crime thriller that privileges observation over exposition, building tension through image, silence, and restraint.” – Behind The Lens Feb 6, 2026 Full Review Grizzly Night (2026) 53% 3/5 EDIT “Grizzly Night delivers real tension and impressive craft—especially in its sound design and atmosphere—but it never quite chooses its identity with the confidence the story demands. ” – Behind The Lens Feb 6, 2026 Full Review Dust Bunny (2025) 85% EDIT “A sumptuous visual feast — a candy-colored, fairy-tale nightmare that revels in whimsy, danger, and emotional truth.” – Behind The Lens Feb 2, 2026 Full Review Roof (2026) EDIT “What could have been a clever experiment becomes a quietly compelling, human-scaled thriller that lingers long after the rooftop fades from view.” – Behind The Lens Jan 27, 2026 Full Review Stop Time (2025) EDIT “A quietly assured film that allows meaning and emotion to surface, slowly and deliberately, through craft.” – Behind The Lens Jan 18, 2026 Full Review Relentless (2025) 3/5 EDIT “Relentless is brutal, yes—but its true savagery lies in how it exposes the ease with which we confuse power with innocence and desperation with guilt. ” – Behind The Lens Jan 17, 2026 Full Review The Man With the Hat (2026) EDIT “The Man With The Hat reminds us that history doesn’t survive by accident—it survives because someone chooses, every day, to care.” – Behind The Lens Jan 15, 2026 Full Review SHEEPDOG (2025) 77% EDIT “Steven Grayhm approaches PTSD not as an event, but as a condition that reshapes time—stretching the past into the present and pressing quietly on every relationship in its orbit. It is authentic and honest, intimate and personal.” – Behind The Lens Jan 14, 2026 Full Review 31 Candles (2025) 100% 3/5 EDIT “The film’s quiet strength lies in what it isn’t. 31 Candles resists becoming a conventional rom-com. Romance is present, but it isn’t the point...uneven, occasionally funny, sometimes grating, but never entirely without heart.” – Behind The Lens Jan 12, 2026 Full Review Greenland 2: Migration (2026) 49% 5/5 EDIT “A rare blend of emotional intimacy and visceral spectacle, Greenland 2: Migration stands as Ric Roman Waugh’s most humane and affecting work to date, where heart, home, and hope triumph.” – Behind The Lens Jan 8, 2026 Full Review The Mannequin (2025) 68% EDIT “[The Mannequin] demonstrates a confident understanding of how sound, space, and restraint can elevate familiar genre elements as [Jon] Berardo proves himself a director attentive to craft and cohesion.” – Behind The Lens Dec 30, 2025 Full Review In Your Dreams (2025) 86% EDIT “A dazzling, full-throttle adventure through the wild world of sleep.” – Behind The Lens Nov 21, 2025 Full Review Dead of Winter (2025) 76% EDIT “A heart-pounding, terror-filled tale of survival that gives way to poignant emotional beauty thanks to a powerhouse performance by Emma Thomson, superb lensing and an all-encompassing sensory experience of sound and score.” – Behind The Lens Sep 29, 2025 Full Review London Calling (2025) 47% EDIT “A fun-filled, almost throwback, “road trip buddy action comedy”... where heart, humor, and hijinks abound...What elevates the simplicity of the story...[is] the chemistry between Josh Duhamel and Jeremy Ray Taylor. ” – Behind The Lens Sep 21, 2025 Full Review Waltzing with Brando (2024) 54% EDIT “An award-worthy best performance of Billy Zane’s career. Jon Heder steps outside the box and ups his game. A wonderful adaptation by Bill Fishman. Superb production values all around. A love letter to the "real" Marlon Brando. ” – Behind The Lens Sep 19, 2025 Full Review I Really Love My Husband (2025) 89% EDIT “"I Really Love My Husband" is a tough slog through a one-week, one-year-delayed honeymoon of Teresa and Drew.” – Behind The Lens Sep 16, 2025 Full Review Sew Torn (2024) 95% 4/5 EDIT “Sew Torn is creative and original, visually vibrant and stimulating, whimsical and a bit quirky, and quite entertaining and fun, with everything perfectly threaded through the cinematic needle to create a fabulous tapestry. ” – Behind The Lens Jul 16, 2025 Full Review
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