I Carry You with Me
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: June 25, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 29, 2021
Ewing joins a generation of filmmakers who are using every piece of cinematic grammar available to communicate the emotional core of their stories and characters, fusing the impressionistic liberties of drama with more visceral truths to startling and potent effect. Read full review
100
Film ThreatLorry KiktaOct 1, 2020
I Carry You With Me is an emotional powerhouse that had me and the other moviegoers crying our collective eyes out. Read full review
91
Original-CinLiam LaceyAug 18, 2021
Though the subject of immigrants from persecuted minorities fleeing their homelands is topical, what elevates I Carry You With Me above most social dramas is its finespun, artisanal quality. Read full review
91
The Film StageJoshua EnciniasApr 22, 2021
What’s tender in the film is tinged with sadness. Documentary footage of Iván and Gerardo is in harmony with absorbing performances by Armando Espitia and Christian Vasquez. And these disparate pieces under different leadership wouldn’t come together as masterfully if not for Heidi Ewing’s exceptional vision. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyDavid CanfieldOct 1, 2020
In Ewing’s hands and as anchored by two superb performances, Iván and Gerardo’s romance gets scaled up to an epic, a searing saga of the undocumented experience in which love is the binding force. Read full review
90
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJul 10, 2021
I Carry You With Me poignantly captures the ache, the beauty of the characters’ love, and the pieces that get left behind in pursuit of something new. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 30, 2021
I Carry You With Me is an act of memory, of romance, and of friendship all in one — a movie that takes the kind of undocumented immigrants’ saga we think we know and recasts it in a dreamy, bittersweet light. Read full review
80
Rolling StoneDavid FearJun 24, 2021
It is a gorgeous film, and one that deserves to be seen on a giant screen as much as that other only-in-theaters release this weekend, F9. And even when I Carry You With Me becomes so lost in its aesthetic that you worry it’s losing focus, this impressionistic approach doesn’t take away from what is an intimate, extremely personal story of two men fighting to build a life with each other. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJun 24, 2021
Turning time and memory into an elliptical portrait of what it means when borders become barriers, I Carry You With Me, the first narrative feature from the documentary filmmaker Heidi Ewing, trades distance for empathy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschOct 1, 2020
This is an intimate epic, imbued with a warmth and a tenderness that radiate from both behind and in front of the camera. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJenny NulfJul 8, 2021
Admirable efforts aside, I Carry You With Me is still an enchanting mix of drama and romance, but also a timely, poetic love letter to Iván’s home country, Mexico. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Chandler LevackAug 23, 2021
While the film is tonally incongruous and confusing at points, Ivan and Gerardo’s powerful love story has such high stakes, you can’t help but swoon. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 2, 2021
I Carry You With Me is an innovative take on the classic “coming to America” immigrant saga. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisJul 1, 2021
Without an ounce of the polemic, [Ewing] offers a vivid perspective of the United States’ immigration issues through a romantic lens. It’s not a new perspective, by any means, but the way she brings it has a poignant beauty all its own. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeJun 25, 2021
Teaching the audience about the intricacies of the U.S. immigration system isn’t the point of this film—the point is to make you feel the intangible ache of being where you belong and far away from home at the same time. In that way, the film poetically, heartbreakingly succeeds. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 25, 2021
I Carry You with Me is a complicated film, in many ways, and it covers a lot of ground, but the emotions portrayed are simple and human-sized. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJun 23, 2021
I Carry You with Me couldn’t be any more specific about the trials of an undocumented gay couple trying to carve out a place for themselves, but it’s that specificity that makes its themes and emotions all the more universal. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 24, 2021
Its imperfections and its beauties are inextricable from each other, and also from the sad, inspiring real-life story it has to tell. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 24, 2021
The production, which grew out of the filmmaker’s friendship with the two men, Iván and Gerardo, is so heartfelt, and the material so intrinsically powerful, that I Carry You With Me slowly catches up with itself, and lights a fire fueled by food and love. That’s a winning combination in this story, just as it is in real life. Read full review
67
IndieWireJude DryOct 8, 2020
I Carry You With Me succeeds in distilling a very engrossing and moving narrative from this real life drama. Ewing’s visual choices are at once sweeping and precise. Read full review
67
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodOct 1, 2020
Ewing makes a creative decision in the final act of the picture which simply sucks all the air out of the room. Read full review
60
The GuardianPhuong LeSep 14, 2021
Revolving around a tender true love story, this first narrative feature from seasoned documentary director Heidi Ewing (which won a couple of awards at Sundance) is a fascinating – though at times uneven – blend of film styles. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneOct 1, 2020
Heidi Ewing’s tale of immigration and deportation afflicting the lives of a Mexican gay couple flashes its reason for being at every turn. Read full review
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