Philomena
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: November 22, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 42 Critic Reviews
Positive:
38
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
ObserverRex ReedNov 19, 2013
It’s profoundly moving and thoroughly mind provoking, but despite the poignant subject matter, I promise you will not leave Philomena depressed. I’ve seen it twice and felt exhilarated, informed, enriched, absorbed and optimistic both times. Read full review
100
EmpireDamon WiseOct 28, 2013
A terrific, sophisticated comedy that tackles serious issues with a lightness of touch and a spirit of steel, Philomena is the British film to beat come BAFTA time. Read full review
91
The Film StageChristopher SchobertOct 27, 2016
Philomena has a few modest missteps, and a frustrating moment or two (Philomena is more forgiving than Martin – and the audience – want her to be), but the film is so moving, so brisk, and so sweet that it is hard to be left with anything resembling disappointment. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanNov 25, 2013
Effective, fact-based melodrama that packs an unexpected emotional wallop. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 20, 2013
Dench and Coogan's chemistry is undeniably great. In the end, he manages to give her the answers she seeks and she manages to give him a heart. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungNov 21, 2013
Stephen Frears is in full possession of his filmmaking talent in Philomena, one of his most pulled-together dramas in years. Read full review
90
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 21, 2013
Even through improbable moments and abrupt changes of pace and tone, Ms. Dench and Mr. Coogan hold the movie together. Read full review
90
TimeMary CorlissSep 16, 2013
Getting full comic effect from its class-comedy abrasions, Philomena rises to poignancy and profundity as Dench reveals her control of a character stained by the loss of her child and troubled by her suspicion. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaNov 27, 2013
The Catholic Church does not come off well in Philomena, but then, what else is new? And the film isn't so much an indictment of institutional unkindness as it is a story of resilience, resolution - and human kindness. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 27, 2013
Philomena is a tearjerker of rare honesty and craft. Read full review
88
Washington PostAnn HornadayNov 27, 2013
At its core, this clever, wrenching, profound story underscores the tenacity of faith in the face of unfathomable cruelty. Evil may be good, story-wise. But virtue, at its most tested and tempered, is even better. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerNov 26, 2013
Director Steven Frears deserves special mention. A lesser filmmaker could so easily have turned this project into mushy, sentimental junk. The tear-jerking moments here are heartfelt and real. It’s the kind of filmmaking we see too little of today. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaNov 22, 2013
Most of its pleasures come from the way it confounds expectations. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 21, 2013
It's Dench, showing how faith and hellraising can reside in the same woman, who makes Philomena moving and memorable. Read full review
88
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreNov 19, 2013
Most credit goes to Coogan for the success of this odd coupling. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 26, 2013
Philomena is simply one of those small, true stories that astonish in print and inspire good movies. Read full review
83
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonSep 16, 2013
It's certainly a crowd-pleaser...and something close to a triumph, if not an unqualified one. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 26, 2013
Philomena could have been a sappy movie, but it’s not. Instead, with such assured performances, it’s proof that sometimes a laugh makes swallowing a big dose of outrage a little easier. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneNov 22, 2013
What could be a plain tale -- and is in danger of becoming a sappy one -- grows surprisingly inward and dense. [25 Nov. 2013, p.135]
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNov 22, 2013
The movie is overcalculating and occasionally coarse, but it has a gentle spirit. We should count its existence as a blessing. Read full review
80
NPRBob MondelloNov 22, 2013
Director Stephen Frears, working from a book by the real Martin Sixsmith, isn't about to let the Irish church off the hook for a monstrous (and well-documented) chapter in its history. In flashbacks, he pictures the young Philomena as a sort of proto-Katniss, doing battle with a tyranny of nuns. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 19, 2013
A trip to America bears its share of exasperated hotel-room humor, but watch both actors lean into characters seeking redemption; their clash is invigorating, with a mature payoff that has two minds meeting and getting further along. It’s a tonic to all the Oscar-season showboating: Call it Best Duo. Read full review
80
Village VoiceInkoo KangNov 19, 2013
The grande dame's performance, alternately goofy and grave, is an absolute tour de force. Read full review
80
Total FilmPhilip KempNov 3, 2013
Odd-couple chemistry from Dench and Coogan, a smart script and honed direction make this real-life story highly compelling. Blending comedy and tragedy, it secretes a potent sting. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounSep 16, 2013
It's a terrifically moving film that has a fitting earthbound feel to it. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 16, 2013
This is a heartbreaking story – how could it not be? But Frears’ film breaks your heart and then repairs it. Read full review
80
The GuardianXan BrooksSep 16, 2013
Its main focus is the sparky, shifting relationship between its two protagonists and its trump card the startling chemistry between its two main stars. Read full review
78
Film.comWilliam GossNov 25, 2013
Philomena honors its namesake by valuing potent understatement over potential hysterics. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 27, 2013
It's simple and well-told, although nothing about it is breathtakingly original. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 26, 2013
Philomena is a wiser movie than it seems, with much to say about justice and forgiveness and the healing of wounds over time. Actually, it says next to nothing about any of those things, just implies its messages with a light hand. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 22, 2013
At times the filmmakers seem to be taking potshots at Philomena for her placidity; other times Martin is made to seem crass and unfeeling – insufficiently spiritual. Life lessons are imparted, although the players never budge very much from their initial attitudes. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigNov 21, 2013
Compelling, poignant and gently funny. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyNov 20, 2013
Still, that doesn’t detract too much from what Philomena manages to accomplish: a sober consideration of how ideals relate to institutions — whether they’re religions or political parties — anchored by two well-rounded, funny lead performances. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirNov 22, 2013
Philomena turns out to be a subtly told tale of tragedy and redemption, with much of the sentimental payoff you’re expecting but several intriguing plot twists along the way. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranNov 21, 2013
Dench is not the only reason to see this unapologetic crowd-pleaser, but she is the best one. Read full review
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsNov 21, 2013
What makes it effective isn’t the facts of the case, so much as the way Philomena lets viewers spend time with its characters and get to know exactly who’s getting hurt. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangSep 16, 2013
It’s an undeniable whopper of a yarn and, coming after a string of middling efforts from Frears, easily the director’s most compulsively watchable picture since “The Queen." Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNov 27, 2013
For the viewer, however, solving this mystery is not nearly as engrossing as watching the actors’ pas de deux. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNov 21, 2013
The movie wouldn’t stand for much of anything without such an effective team to represent the equivocating. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternNov 21, 2013
Mr. Coogan, lavishly talented as a comic, and a comic actor, is fairly monotonous in the mostly serious role he wrote for himself. That leaves Ms. Dench to carry the picture, which she does, up to a point, with her usual delicacy and grace. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoNov 15, 2013
A human-interest story that claims spite for human-interest stories, the film has some pretty divisive issues at its core that leave it torn between contrasting approaches. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithNov 21, 2013
With Philomena, British producer-writer-star Steve Coogan and director Stephen Frears hit double blackjack, finding a true-life tale that would enable them to simultaneously attack Catholics and Republicans. There’s no other purpose to the movie, so if 90 minutes of organized hate brings you joy, go and buy your ticket now. Read full review
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