Ethel & Ernest
Dada Films | Release Date: December 15, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenDec 14, 2017
While time inevitably marches on, director Roger Mainwood has a splendid constant at his disposal in the pitch-perfect voice performances of Blethyn and Broadbent, who inhabit their hand-drawn characters with a vivid, fully-dimensional authenticity. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 14, 2017
The backdrop to this very English marriage – soot and grit and survival, and that basenote of touching bafflement – means all the tears are earned. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinDec 14, 2017
It’s commonly thought that artists seldom make stories about happy, stable marriages because where’s the drama in that? Ethel & Ernest, a deeply affecting feature-length animated film, disproves that assumption by unfurling an emotionally rich story about the lifelong marital love affair between two kindly, modest people living in an inconspicuous corner of suburban England. Read full review
80
Screen DailyCharles GantDec 14, 2017
Ethel & Ernest is, at its heart, a fond character study. Read full review
80
Time OutCath ClarkeDec 14, 2017
The animation is beautifully old-fashioned. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesJohn HartlDec 14, 2017
Suggesting a matchup between Archie Bunker and Gracie Allen, Ethel & Ernest is a sweet British memoir/cartoon about an ordinary couple who survive the Blitz along with their growing son. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyDec 21, 2017
Mainwood’s fidelity to Briggs’ illustrative aesthetic is welcome, as it maintains a homey, appropriately somewhat retro air redolent of pencil sketches and pastels. Hewing to the book’s sparse text is a little less ideal. Read full review
60
Total FilmKate StablesDec 14, 2017
The storytelling can feel a bit plodding, but Jim Broadbent’s exuberant Ernest and Brenda Blethyn’s timid, upwardly mobile Ethel give the marriage a touching intimacy and warmth. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna SmithDec 14, 2017
A charming animation with funny — if samey — moments and a quality voice cast. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 14, 2017
It’s an engaging film, but it leaves you with a feeling that there might be a deeper, darker, more specific story yet to be told. Read full review
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