CODA
Apple TV+ | Release Date: August 13, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
36
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 10, 2021
You’ll laugh, all right. You’ll cry. You’ll do both at the same time. CODA is just that kind of movie. And thank goodness for it. Read full review
95
Paste MagazineAmy AmatangeloAug 12, 2021
By the time the movie reaches its poignant, beautiful conclusion, I defy anyone to have a dry eye. CODA is about letting go and letting your loved ones soar. Read full review
90
ABC NewsPeter TraversAug 20, 2021
You'll laugh, you'll cry and all steps in between at this vital family entertainment with a title that stands for Children of Deaf Adults. Oscar winner Marlee Matlin and newcomer Emilia Jones turn this emotional powerhouse into one of the year's best movies Read full review
90
CNNBrian LowryAug 13, 2021
What could feel cliched at various turns deftly avoids that, capturing Ruby’s plight in a way that recalls any number of coming-of-age stories while still feeling unexpectedly fresh and distinctive. There have been a number of first-rate movies about teenage girls in the last few years, but few that were better. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesGlenn WhippAug 12, 2021
Because Heder — whose previous work includes the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black” and “Glow” and feature “Tallulah” — is so adept at establishing the emotional bonds between the film’s close-knit family, the presence of all these conventions doesn’t matter. Read full review
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanJan 30, 2021
Siân Heder, who came up as a writer and story editor on “Orange Is the New Black,” has directed just one previous feature (“Tallulah”), but she’s got the gift — the holy essence of how to shape and craft a drama that spins and burbles and flows. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschJan 30, 2021
If you're going to make a film that sticks to the playbook, or playbooks, this is how to do it: CODA is a radiant, deeply satisfying heartwarmer that more than embraces formula; it locates the pleasure and pureness in it, reminding us of the comforting, even cathartic, gratifications of a feel-good story well told. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAug 11, 2021
Grounded and sweet, delicately bawdy, and decidedly hilarious, CODA puts an effervescent and original spin on the coming-of-age comedy-drama. Read full review
88
ObserverSiddhant AdlakhaAug 18, 2021
As much CODA is a film about a hearing person’s relationship to deafness and Deaf culture, it’s just as much about deaf characters’ relationships to a hearing world, whose norms most hearing people take for granted, and whose obstacles can impact everything from labor to self-worth. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittAug 13, 2021
The fantastic, funny and heartfelt dramedy CODA doesn’t astound by breaking the mold of teen romances and coming-of-age tales. Instead, its brilliance lies in combining these well-tread tropes with an important sense of inclusion for a sweet story that truly sings. Read full review
88
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiAug 13, 2021
CODA is part of that fizzling genre of film, popular in the ’90s, in which you’re almost always on the verge of sobbing while watching it. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyAug 13, 2021
Most of all, [Heder] makes us see and believe in our bones that the Rossis are a real family with real chemistry, with real bonds and trials of their own, both unique and universal just like any other family. Read full review
88
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckAug 12, 2021
Heder, who adapted her screenplay from the 2014 French film La Famille Belier, makes crucially effective decisions throughout, but none more important than the casting, with three extraordinary deaf actors playing the deaf family members. Read full review
88
PolygonMatt PatchesJan 31, 2021
The UK-born Jones apparently learned to sign, sing, and put on an American accent for the role, and you’d never know it — she holds the movie together in an astonishing breakout performance. Read full review
85
The AtlanticDavid SimsAug 18, 2021
CODA is insightful and moving enough to be worth all the fuss. Read full review
85
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiJan 30, 2021
It’s a crowd-pleaser, to be sure, and a little on the corny side, but it’s so unwavering in its sincerity that it manages to hit all the right notes. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFeb 1, 2021
Jones — who trained intensively in voice work and American Sign Language for the role — has the gift of coming off like a genuine teenager, and more particularly a girl torn between her unique obligations to the people she's always loved and known and the bigger dreams she holds for herself. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandJan 30, 2021
It’s a crowd-pleaser that works its formula well, even as it breaks new ground. Read full review
83
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodJan 30, 2021
It becomes pretty obvious early on that CODA is one of those movies where you know where the story is going pretty much the entire time, but the elements harmonize so beautifully it still sucks you in. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeAug 13, 2021
Coda is an unqualified success in its relaxed, almost matter-of-fact treatment of how deaf families move through a largely uncomprehending society. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreAug 12, 2021
While a little sentimentality never hurt anyone, what stands out when revisiting CODA outside the festival bubble are the parts that feel unguided by formula, all of which have to do with the dynamics of the Rossi family. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 10, 2021
Sometimes a feel-good story hits the spot. CODA is one of those times. Read full review
80
Vanity FairKatey RichJan 30, 2021
Writer/director Sian Heder, with her exceptional cast, remains in full control of the tone even as the story follows every predictable beat. You’ve seen versions of this story before, sure—but this one’s worthy of another spin. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenOct 12, 2022
Director Sian Heder had an obvious aesthetic card to play with CODA, and she saves it for just the right moment. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAug 12, 2021
CODA is lovely. If you want to see a movie that will make you feel good, this is it. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayAug 10, 2021
The climactic emotional beats are telegraphed almost from the beginning, but they still hit hard, effectively leaving viewers who can suspend their disbelief feeling uplifted and dewy-eyed. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 10, 2021
Coda features a nice little romance between Ruby and a handsome and well-liked boy named Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), but this is primarily a story about a family. A family that just happens to communicate via ASL but will remind you of families you know, or maybe even the family you know best. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 3, 2021
Jones has a winsome screen presence and a pleasant, lilting voice that may not sell Ruby as “Berklee School of Music” material, but thin or not, it gets by. As does CODA. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisAug 12, 2021
The template of CODA — the title is also a term used to describe the hearing children of deaf adults — might be wearyingly familiar, but this warmhearted drama from Sian Heder opens up space for concerns that feel fresh. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMatthew PassantinoJan 30, 2021
Heder infuses the characters and plot with such deep emotion it makes up for its lack of narrative originality. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 30, 2021
Often quite touching and funny, writer-director Sian Heder’s second feature sometimes succumbs to contrivances and crowd-pleasing theatrics, but one can hardly fault her obvious affection for these messy, engaging characters. Read full review
68
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzAug 10, 2021
There isn’t enough raw drama, deep-felt emotion, or genuine artistry on display here to keep CODA from staring down its own obligatory end: a half-smile and a shrug. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonFeb 9, 2021
Maybe the formulas we’re so used to will be exactly the vehicle to introduce general audiences to the lived experiences of a community criminally underserved in media. Read full review
67
The Film StageMichael FrankJan 30, 2021
Coda, even with all of its imperfections, drives home a truckload of emotions in its final act, filled with more silence than noise. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyAug 12, 2021
Ruby is an underdog worth rooting for, and Jones (the Netflix series Locke & Key) is terrific. She’s like a cross between the young Winona Ryder and the young Kate Winslet. The comparison flatters all three. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 12, 2021
What’s missing are unexpected beats, some rougher edges, a few plot-undependent moments that bring us closer to the way these characters live, breathe and feel. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 19, 2021
CODA knows how to work that conventional-to-a-fault indie feeling like a champ. You may exit smiling. Just don’t be surprised if you also experience the sensation of having just been Sundanced to death. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansAug 16, 2021
The film is a meticulously, perhaps even cynically crafted crowd-pleaser. Even those alive to its tactics might find themselves wiping away a tear or two. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerAug 10, 2021
Two parts raw and real, one part manipulative, Coda finds engaging characters and real emotions in a hackneyed narrative arc. See it, though, for a terrific turn from Emilia Jones, if for no other reason than to say you were there at the beginning. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonFeb 2, 2021
Chief in CODA’s achievements are the dynamics of the very close unit at its core. Coming away from the film, there is the sense that this could very well be a real family. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenFeb 2, 2021
There aren’t too many surprises in the journey – especially if you’ve seen La Famille Bélier, the 2014 French film that Coda reworks – but writer-director Siân Heder’s deep affection for the Rossi clan is infectious. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 30, 2021
Coda is a mostly likable concoction, but one that’s just too formulaic and ultimately rather calculated to secure the emotional response it so desperately wants by the big finale. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenFeb 4, 2021
The film is at its most moving in those rare moments when it’s capturing the nourishing bonding ritual among a deaf family. Read full review
40
The New YorkerRichard BrodyFeb 23, 2022
The sense of calculation makes the journey feel like a lockstep march; the movie’s sense of a story that’s dictated rather than observed makes its good feelings feel bad. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 13, 2021
CODA is way too busy playing things cute. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonAug 12, 2021
Where the Ruby-teacher relationship falters is not the fault of the actors, but the writer. Mr. V is meant to be slightly unreasonable, a hard-liner about Ruby being both serious and on time. But the script takes the very common and dubious tack of not letting the characters simply explain their situations to each other. Read full review
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