Popular reviews

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  Review by gingar🦊 ★★★★½ 9

  silence has rarely been this loud

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  Review by Josh ★★★★½ 18

  A man turned to me at the end of this and goes “next time get tissues, you were very annoying”

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  Review by Douglas Greenwood ★★★★★ 33

  As a queer person, there is an age when sacrifice comes so easily because you've not yet figured out who you are, and so don't know who you need the most.

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  Review by nick ★★★½ 18

  Toxic masculinity is harmful. In Close, the tender, beautiful friendship between two teenage boys is put to test by a world hostile to male intimacy. It is flawed, but the message it conveys is undeniable and timeless.

  Hampered by its conventional storytelling skills, Close never fully lives up to its potential considering its hard-hitting subject matter, but it does have glorious moments that lure the audience in. The gorgeous cinematography ensures a visual treat, and the two child actors were captivating in delivering the struggles of two close friends ridiculed by the homophobic outside world. Other than that crucial midway twist, nothing comes as a surprise in this understated tale of heartbreak and melancholia, but it's still an experience that's heavily needed and appreciated.

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  Review by al pacino ★★★★ 1

  this movie can only be described as the most raw depiction of grief. how life still goes on but the pain is still there. it was shot beautifully. a real tear jerker but in the right way, a way that makes you feel human at the end.

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  Review by Ayo Edebiri ★★★★½ 5

  Cried myself dehydrated

  Incredible incredible beautiful performances

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  Review by Robert Quiroz ★★ 28

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Actually had me on board for the most part in the first half. The specific intimacy of the relationship between these two boys is built up carefully, through indelible moment after indelible moment without feeling particularly manipulative. And their slow drifting apart felt earnest in the way it's built on childhood's inherent struggle to understand the world and one's place within it. Sure, it kind of bugged me that one of the boys was clearly being fleshed out more, while the other mostly just existed as a functional component of the relationship being explored – but I figured hey, surely the intrigue surrounding this quieter character is leading somewhere. Plenty of time to explore that thread later in the movie,…

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  Review by crimsen 泓 ★★★★★

  sunshine fading, flowers dwindling,
  a sensitive soul is fragile, and yet healing.

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  Review by Ella Kemp ★★★★½

  I think the thing that scares and upsets me most in life is the fact that some things will always get to grow, heal, return, live on, while some won’t. Cut short, caught in a moment, taken from those who blame themselves but did as much as they could. It’s nobody’s fault - all that we can do is water the soil, feed our souls, and give more love than anything. So much more. Always.

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  Review by CinemaJoe ★★★★ 10

  Feeling pretty torn leaving Close because it poses a question that I have yet to figure out— at what point does a movie cross a line from being tender and honest to emotionally manipulative? I’ve seen some great discourse from both sides of the aisle and I’m not exactly sure where I lean. 

  Is it manipulative if the tragedy depicted is the reality for children across the world? I don’t believe so. But in some ways it feels like the film wants to make its audience cry, which admittedly its very successful at doing. I think the first half is much more effective in its exploration of masculinity, which is all but abandoned in the second half in favor of exploring grief, which I felt was less potent. 

  I don’t know. Some incredible performances and I adored the score, but there’s a lot to think about here and my eyes hurt from crying.

  Oscar Gauntlet: #36/54

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  Review by Thomas Flight ★★★★½ 2

  The most tender and gentle heart wrenching gut-punch imaginable. Absolutely incredible performances- everyone on screen is pouring their heart into this. 

  The 15 Minute standing ovation actually didn’t feel absurd.

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  Review by Joshua Arispe ★★★★ 1

  A tender reminder on how precious childhood friendships are, and how confusing and transformative growing up can be. 

  Movies like these can truly shape the world.