Nobody Knows
User Score
8.7 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 64 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 64
  3. Negative: 3 out of 64

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  1. DonaldW.
    Jun 23, 2006
    2
    One word can describe this movie: boring. It could also apply to the other Koreeda movies I have seen. If another word is desired, try "pointless." If Koreeda is trying to tell us that young children should not be abandoned by their parents that isa point which certainly should not take two hours and twenty minutes to make as nothing could be more obvious.
  2. s.keller
    Apr 1, 2005
    1
    Why is this movie considered good? For one, it's little more than a rip off of Flowers in the Attic (the book, not the film) using not only the basic plot - mom loves man more than 2 elder, 2 younger kids, one kid takes parental role - but even some of the more subtle metaphors - the sugared donuts, for one. Second, none of these kids can act. Staring blankly around as if there are four producers waving at you from differenr directions is not acting. Looking melancholy to some painfully irritating piano track; not acting. Also, it takes the idea of showing their day to day life to ludicrous extremes. We know the exact way out of their apartment building, down the street, turn left, there's the grocery store (we know where the office in there is, too), the way to the park and the school... it takes us around town so many times we can honestly find our own way. To do this every. single. scene. is mindnumbing. They wake up, they go out, they buy food, go to park, come home... it's just mindnumbing. Story wise, there isn't one. In true artsy form, there's a beginning - mom leaves kids - but no ending. Curiously, as nothing actually develops or happens, there's no middle either. Too long by, say, two hours, this is the world's longest beginning of a film.… Expand
  3. nascent
    Sep 20, 2012
    4
    I was quite disappointed with this movie, it was very slow, lacking in character arcs, plot or emotion. The abandonment and the 'fending for themselves' is interesting, but it's half shot like a documentary, half shot like a progressive drama. But there's very little to take from the film. The characters are pretty shallow, despite the great acting and close-up shots. A movie this reminded me a lot of is King Of the Hill, a fantastically made movie about a boy left to fend for himself as his parents have to leave. There's adventure, a coming-of-age character arc, a plot with strong overtones. Very strongly written characters in addition to the good cast. Obviously they're not identical films, but I would recommend King Of The Hill tenfold over this. I'm a hugely into Asian cinema, but other than good camerawork, there's very little to this film.… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jim Healy
    90
    Yuya Yagira, winner of the best actor award at Cannes this year, is superb as the protective eldest child; he and his other nonprofessional costars are quietly heartbreaking.
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  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    80
    Kore-eda sketches the inner, spiritual and emotional lives of the children with subtlety and sensitivity, delivering the goods after a seemingly directionless first half.
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  3. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    80
    I certainly came out of Nobody Knows feeling numb; only later, reflecting on the fact that the movie was inspired by a true story, did it occur to me that the numbness could have been deliberate, and that what suffused this picture was a mist of anger.
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