80
Metascore
22 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayI Wish is still amply Kore-eda-esque, full of life, heart, and funny little details about daily existence, as it meanders its way toward moments of real profundity.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceI Wish makes us feel like we are watching these kids discover each new sensory pleasure of youth for the first time, or that we're experiencing it ourselves.
- 80Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternThis wise and funny film, in Japanese with English subtitles, works small miracles in depicting the pivotal moment when kids turn from the wishfulness of childhood into shaping the world for themselves.
- A delightful and uplifting study of kids and families by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThis tale of two elementary-school brothers plotting to end the physical separation their parents' divorce has forced on them effortlessly pulls off the naturalism and charm desired from material that might have easily curdled into calculated preciousness.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinKoreeda's compositions have a sympathetic detachment that Americans rarely value but is, for many Japanese, the whole point of art. That means you can contemplate the wonder in these glowing young faces without feeling as if you're on an intravenous drip of corn syrup.
- 63Slant MagazineMichael NordineSlant MagazineMichael NordineI Wish has a tough time balancing the heartfelt with the saccharine and too often feels slight.
- 60Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoBoxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoA coming of age story in which the children better the world for the adults, Kore-Eda's heart is in the right place.
- 60Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichShots of the kids and their friends running around unfamiliar environments have the fantastical qualities of Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are," minus the forced whimsy.