Brian and Charles
Focus Features | Release Date: June 17, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatSabina Dana PlasseJul 15, 2022
With Brian and Charles, Archer delivers a heartwarming and timeless film. The witty and clever screenplay efficiently sets up Brian’s quirky behavior in a touching and funny way. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJul 15, 2022
The result has homemade charm to spare, proving delightfully ridiculous but also poignant. Read full review
80
NMEPaul BradshawJul 15, 2022
Archer’s film always feels utterly unique. Looking as handmade as its loveable leads and carrying enough odd wit and subtle warmth to put the multiplex to shame, this is British indie cinema at its weird best. See it before it all falls apart at the seams. Read full review
80
EmpireJohn NugentJul 13, 2022
Made with genuine affection and innately British whimsy, this is really just an odd-couple comedy about two lonely blokes — one of whom has a “washing machine for a tummy”. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesTara BradyJul 8, 2022
Brian and Charles themselves, meanwhile, make for an irresistible two-step in a delightful tale of friendship and loneliness, dramatised and written in beats that make one think of Wallace & Gromit without the clay. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 7, 2022
It isn’t easy to develop a sketch-length idea into a feature film and not easy to pivot from ironic comedy into dark Straw Dogs-style menace, and then into a sweet-natured happy ending. But Earl, Hayward and Archer have managed it. It’s the bromance of the year. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenJul 7, 2022
It’s a testament to the deftness and love with which Brian and Charles is made that its sweetness never becomes saccharine, and the eccentricity never feels forced. The result is a total delight – the surprise package of the year. Read full review
60
Little White LiesLaura VenningJul 7, 2022
Rather like its robotic protagonist, Brian and Charles is bolted together from misshapen parts that don’t constitute an altogether successful whole. But, anchored by a strong but understated performance from Earl, it’s awkward but ultimately endearing. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonJun 20, 2022
Frequently hilarious and never lacking in heart, there’s plenty to love about this story of an offbeat, cabbage-loving weirdo and his three-meter-tall mechanical son. Even if it’s a bit thematically slight and doesn’t quite stick the landing in congealing what themes it does have into a cohesive whole, sometimes all that’s necessary is an offbeat sense of humor and a weird enough premise to make a lasting impression. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJun 17, 2022
Brian and Charles is a soothing, lighthearted, and warm story about friendship and connection that is strengthened by its titular characters. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJun 17, 2022
The performances by Brealey, Earl and Hayward are terrifically sweet and sincere, in sync with the film’s unaffected attitude of silly but serious. The magic that Brian and Charles taps into is handwrought and underplayed, with Archer letting the weird details cast a low-key glow. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 16, 2022
Like Charles himself (and maybe Brian, too), it’s an odd hodgepodge of a story: a sweet, eccentric misfit, just waiting for someone to find it, and love it, despite its flaws. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJun 16, 2022
There are certain varieties of whimsy that either click with you or don’t. I point this out because what didn’t click for me in “Brian and Charles,” a new comedy directed by Jim Archer, might do something for you. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 16, 2022
Brian and Charles is a pleasant diversion, offering a few hearty chuckles along the way to an uplifting ending. Read full review
83
Original-CinKim HughesJun 16, 2022
If themes about the importance of friendship, hope, and love land a bit on the nose, there’s no denying Brian and Charles takes an innovative approach to delivering them, even if — see above — the tack is brazenly metaphorical. Yet its distinctive charms are resonant enough to offset a slender story in what nevertheless amounts to a sweet and earnest, modern-day fable. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonJun 16, 2022
The decidedly lo-fi robot elements give the proceedings a bit of charm, as does the North Wales location, but they are not enough to save this buddy comedy from sapping the audience’s patience and goodwill. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJun 16, 2022
In its funny, implausible, and heartwarming depiction of a ramshackle platonic friendship between two oddballs, Brian and Charles creates a complete and immersive world – rainier than, but not that far removed from, Kyle Mooney's equally idiosyncratic and endearing fantasy Brigsby Bear. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 16, 2022
It’s a shame that Brian and Charles plays things safe, as Archer’s naturally irreverent debut only becomes easier to invest in during its more outlandish moments. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonJun 16, 2022
Too soon, however, this intriguing psychological study turns into a programmatic geeks-vs-bullies story that relies on pushing the easiest emotional buttons. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 16, 2022
Even as the low-key mockumentary Brian and Charles impressively scales down a sci-fi concept to fable size, it neither does much to maintain its oddness nor finds that right mix of comedy and pathos to have much impact. Read full review
70
TheWrapFran HoepfnerJun 15, 2022
Earl and Hayward developed these characters first as a live stand-up show and then in a short film, and natural chemistry and cheeky rapport make “Brian and Charles” a laugh-out-loud comedy. Read full review
70
VarietyTomris LafflyJun 15, 2022
A deceptively unserious movie it may be, but Brian and Charles leaves a serious trace through its pure sense of optimism. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 15, 2022
It’s all of a piece, and just as charming and engrossing as a silly mockumentary about a robot maturing from boot-up to rebellious teens can be. No, Wales doesn’t come off as anything but grey and repressed and backward. But whatever Brian and Charles don’t do for Welsh tourism they more than make up for in warm, goofy entertainment value. Read full review
77
Paste MagazineAurora AmidonJun 14, 2022
Brian and Charles isn’t striving to be a technical achievement, and it works well as a thoughtful, sentimental, funny, uplifting buddy comedy. It’s quite a feat for a feature debut, and is guaranteed to leave you waiting for what Jim Archer will do next. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJun 13, 2022
The original Brian and Charles short focused entirely on its titular characters, and it’s clear that was for the best. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAmber WilkinsonApr 25, 2022
Comedy is a serious business and it is Earl and Hayward’s deadpan delivery, coupled with Archer’s maintenance of a documentary shooting style in the face of the ridiculous, that ensures the situation generates physical and verbal laughs. Read full review
67
The Film StageMichael FrankApr 25, 2022
Brian and Charles didn’t need to be a feature. It could have continued to peacefully and joyfully exist as a short, and its material stretches the story thin as a sheet in this extended form. But the charm and fun of its story outweighs a scrawny narrative. Read full review
68
PolygonOli WelshApr 25, 2022
The warmth and tenderness with which the film explores the relationship between Brian and his creation are real. Read full review
80
SlashfilmEthan AndertonApr 25, 2022
An endlessly charming, funny, and delightfully lo-fi British comedy. Read full review
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