Yes
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: June 24, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
12
Negative:
6
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Beautifully composed and deftly delivered, it becomes the libretto to Potter's visual music, creating a remarkable lyricism and emotional directness. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Alive and daring. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
For those who accept Potter's premise -- and why not embark on a challenging, enriching experience? -- this is a unique, bold adventure of the soul. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Ultimately, Potter's fable is about how a catastrophe forces us to ask what we believe and why. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Bold, vibrant and impassioned, Yes is the work of a high-risk film artist in command of her medium and gifted in propelling her actors to soaring performances. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The results are visually striking, but conceptually they oscillate between poetic, pretentious, and philosophically dubious. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Potter explores midlife ennui, (middle-)East-West tension, theology, biology and the irrational nature of romance in this ambitious, if ultimately sketchy, drama. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
From the floating particles of dirt that open the film to the final image of a man and woman on a beach, Yes insists that we live with our mistakes since there is no escaping them. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a brave film, particularly on the part of Allen, and in many ways an accomplished film. But it's so bookish and clever that you can never fully embrace it, even when you wish you could. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
While Yes defies film's conventions in many, many ways, it's still that same old story, the fight for love and glory. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
If nothing else, Yes is certainly a brave experiment. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Like Potter's "Orlando" and "The Tango Lesson," Yes showcases a craft and a hushed, vibrant intensity that prove compelling even when the story loses its focus. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Potter's anachronistic rhyme schemes tumble forth with an out-damned-spot verve that rages against irrelevance. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Like its title, the film is ultimately an affirmation in the face of catastrophic negation, a bit obvious at times but nonetheless welcome. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
For the most part Yes buzzes with visual life and imagination. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'Hara
Flawed but very original. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Parse the philosophy behind the spill of words, though, and you'll find intellectual jumble, junk. Better to nod to Yes as a drowsing chant than take it seriously as a statement of global concerns. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterAndrew Sun
Despite many interesting mise-en-scene moments, the film disappointingly feels as sterile as the family's immaculately clean house. In a sense, the movie is too ambitious. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The actors are emotional, but the presentation is theoretical to the point of absurdity. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Yes is more of a maybe. Or even a hmmm. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Shades of "House of Sand and Fog," without the compelling drama. Read full review
40
VarietyScott Foundas
Ultimately has nothing of any real depth or profundity to say, but a thousand self-consciously complex ways of saying it. Read full review
40
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
You may get off on this enthralling stuff, But after half an hour I'd had enough. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
The more serious Potter gets (there are several earnest soliloquies about dirt), the harder it is not to laugh. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
This is the kind of movie that nice people call ambitious. Let's just leave it at that. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Yes is not just a movie, in other words, it's a poem. A bad poem. There is no denying Ms. Potter's skill at versifying - or for that matter, at composing clear, striking visual images - but her intricate, measured lines amount to doggerel, not art. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
It's a bold exercise, an interesting experiment, but a movie it ain't. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Mostly unbearable. Read full review
12
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The result is a unique time at the art house: a work whose badness becomes guiltily pleasurable, like a Harlequin romance novel masquerading as a dissertation. Read full review
More From This Movie

55 Critic Reviews

7.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 82 The Northman
2 81 Everything Everywhere All at Once
3 78 X
4 72 7 Days
5 72 Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL