Columbus
| Release Date: August 4, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 9, 2017
The quietly stirring, exquisitely photographed Columbus is an art-house gem that beautifully illuminates not only the architecture of a small Indiana town, but also the characters that inhabit it. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 3, 2017
What’s remarkable about this wondrously assured debut is that technique never overwhelms feeling, in part because Kogonada makes the two seem inextricably, harmoniously linked. Read full review
100
The New YorkerRichard BrodyAug 1, 2017
Richardson in particular vaults to the forefront of her generation’s actors with this performance, which virtually sings with emotional and intellectual acuity.... Few performances—and few films—glow as brightly with the gemlike fire of precocious genius. Read full review
100
Screen DailyJonathan RomneyAug 1, 2017
Into what might have been an alienating, hard-edged setting, human warmth comes from some relishably muted performances. Read full review
100
VarietyGeoff BerkshireAug 1, 2017
The hypnotically paced drama carried by the serendipitous odd-couple pairing of John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson is lovely and tender, marking Kogonada as an auteur to watch. Read full review
100
Slant MagazineChuck BowenJul 30, 2017
The seeming miracle of Columbus is its mixture of formal precision with a philosophical grasp of human mystery. Read full review
100
The PlaylistJessica KiangJun 23, 2017
A gentle but sharply defined story, brimming with grace, compassion and performances of perfect naturalism, it is unashamedly intellectual yet deeply human. Read full review
91
IndieWireKate ErblandAug 3, 2017
Columbus is a feast for the eyes, but its more lasting impression is on the heart. Read full review
91
ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerAug 3, 2017
Kogonada matches the inquisitive eye of his two leads, finding the splendor in the everyday, the unusual in the unlikeliest places, and the need for connection that runs beneath all things. Read full review
90
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergAug 3, 2017
The existence of a debut as confident and allusive as Columbus is almost as improbable as the existence of Columbus, Ind., where the movie is set. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijAug 1, 2017
A soft-spoken and perceptive film set in the Modernist small-town marvel that is Columbus, Indiana, this is a specialized art house treat that announces the arrival of a new director who combines small-scale, Ozu-like humanism with an impressive command of the formalist possibilities of film. Read full review
89
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpAug 7, 2017
The places and things Kogonada includes in his frame are important for drawing us into Columbus’s world, but it’s Richardson who gives that world its shape, supplying her director’s clean, static compositions, captured in long shots, with aching humanity molded by doubt and disappointment. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioSep 7, 2017
[Kogonada] is a work of transcendent beauty, where words are key, but imagery even more profound. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 7, 2017
The movie is beautiful without wasting its time on cliched beauty. Kogonada, who edited as well as wrote and directed, collaborates intuitively with cinematographer Elisha Christian, who’s as good with faces as he is with sharp modernist edges etched in concrete. Read full review
88
Boston GlobePeter KeoughSep 6, 2017
Kogonada establishes a meditative tone and rhythm as his compositions parallel the building’s pleasing symmetries. Read full review
88
Washington PostStephanie MerryAug 17, 2017
The drama is a realistic and methodical meditation on family obligation, personal sacrifice and — of course — the power of architecture. That makes Columbus as lovely to look at as it is to ponder. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyAug 4, 2017
Watching the film is almost like feeling the muscles in your eyes shift, as you look up from reading a book to stare out at the ocean. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 3, 2017
Delicate business is being transacted in Columbus, a whisper-soft debut from Kogonada that nonetheless results in something unique and unforgettable. It's pure cinema. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyAug 9, 2017
His video essays may have hinted at an artist with a gifted eye, but Columbus is proof that Kogonada also possesses heart and soul as well. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Aug 3, 2017
Come for the breathtaking architectural scenery, stay for the likable pair staring up at it. Read full review
83
The Film StageJordan RaupJun 23, 2017
Unfolding with a specific eye for grandeur in every space, the images resonate long after the credits roll. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 8, 2018
The message that brutalism is not only beautiful but therapeutic will probably have its detractors, but for those who, like me, love both pensive arthouse cinema and cantilevered concrete structures, it’s a rare treat. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 5, 2018
Columbus is an engrossing and unexpectedly passionate film, although much of the passion is displaced outwards into a feeling for space, for mass, for building materials. It is a static passion, but not inert. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 14, 2017
Much of the film is inert, like a still life with dialogue. That’s not a detriment. That’s an invitation to see a movie whose beauty stays with you long after it ends. Read full review
80
Village VoiceBilge EbiriAug 1, 2017
An outwardly chilly, resolutely static film that nevertheless finds poignancy in the most surprising places, Kogonada’s directorial debut does a couple of important things so well that I can’t help but forgive the things it doesn’t. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAug 24, 2017
Columbus avoids a sense of film geekiness by keeping our attention on the plights of the two central characters. The city of Columbus may, indeed, be a locus for modernism, but the film named after it becomes a jumping-off point for postmodernism. Read full review
60
TheWrapInkoo KangAug 4, 2017
A minimalist film like Columbus depends almost entirely on the shading of the characters and the depths of the performances. By that metric, it’s a too-delicate creature, tickling and piquing instead of fully thrusting us into the realm of feelings. Read full review
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