Cactus Pears
Strand Releasing | Release Date: November 21, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsNov 21, 2025
There are few gentler films you’ll find this year than Rohan Kanawade’s “Cactus Pears.” A touching queer romance whose subtle rhythms pull us into its tender embrace. Read full review
90
The New York TimesNatalia WinkelmanNov 20, 2025
While the film centers on the comfort Anand finds with Balya and vice versa, it is also an elegantly reserved study of Anand’s grief, finding a rhythm in its scenes of ritual that allows us to ache alongside. Read full review
90
VarietySiddhant AdlakhaNov 4, 2025
It eventually takes on radiant form, with emotional complexities born out of characters walking around the truth, if only because euphemisms are the only language they have. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeAug 8, 2025
In less assured hands, Cactus Pears might have edged into trite territory, yielding to the familiar beats of trauma-laden queer love stories, but Kanawade’s considered direction and spare storytelling keep the narrative refreshing. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawJun 17, 2026
Here is a really impressive directorial debut from Mumbai film-maker Rohan Kanawade: tender, subtle, candid, scrupulously observed. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeNov 4, 2025
Cactus Pears is a subdued, sensitive study of bereavement and the quietly radical act of being queer in a rural, lower-class Indian community. Read full review
80
Next Best PictureJosh ParhamNov 3, 2025
While it can be subjected to tedium, the engaging aura and captivating performances do more than enough to assemble a heartfelt analysis of love, bereavement, and finding one’s inner truth. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineCharles Lyons-BurtNov 17, 2025
The film is at its best when it fashions itself as a kind of ouroboros where the future and the past, death and new love, circle back on one another. Read full review
75
IndieWireRitesh MehtaNov 3, 2025
The film’s honesty, whether loquacious or laconic, sears even more in the absence of a score. Its observational ethos is remarkable given that it is quasi-autobiographical. Read full review
70
IONCINEMA.comNicholas BellNov 3, 2025
In essence, Cactus Pears is about taking the time to search for meaningful fulfillment, which means not holding your discoveries hostage to a future no one can predict. Read full review
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