Language Lessons
Shout! Factory | Release Date: September 10, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SlashfilmKalyn CorriganMar 30, 2021
Touching, important, and surprisingly inspiring, this movie is a testament to the power of dialect and how it shapes our worldview and fuses and unites us. Willingness to dive in deep past surface level schisms broadens the range of our accepted capabilities and ambitions. Morales may be working with bare bones in her first feature, but she manages to say a lot with a little. Read full review
89
TheWrapYolanda MachadoSep 10, 2021
Natalie Morales’ directorial debut Language Lessons creates a warmth that so often gets lost in these virtual meetings. With her gentle guidance and two very heartfelt performances, the result is a warm, lovely film about platonic affection and the human need for connection. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarSep 10, 2021
Feel-good yet not cloying, Language Lessons wraps its comforting graciousness around you and says, “No estás solo / You are not alone.” Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneSep 7, 2021
As a performer, Morales is laughably smart, sympathetic, and engaging, and what’s so clever about Language Lessons is the deployment of that allure. Read full review
80
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiApr 1, 2021
Poignant, funny, and emotionally resonant, Language Lessons organically develops a heartfelt friendship while its cast exudes warmth and charisma. Read full review
78
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpSep 9, 2021
Duplass and Morales play their parts with honesty and grace; they write those parts and the drama between them with straightforward understanding of the complications of remote associations, and the total package is then presented straightforwardly. There’s no other way for screenlife to present itself. But the film loses nothing in that straightforwardness, neither authenticity nor humanity nor Morales’ appeal as an actress-turned-multihyphenate. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSelome HailuSep 9, 2021
The film gets heavy-handed about its premise sometimes, exaggerating the online-ness of it all with artificial glitches and voice modulations, but beyond that, Language Lessons is gorgeously, uncomfortably real. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comRoxana HadadiSep 13, 2021
Language Lessons is an alternately comforting and challenging watch, and between this and Morales’s other 2021 directorial effort, Plan B, she is making plain the winsome appeal of films about platonic love. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeSep 9, 2021
Luckily, Morales and Duplass have the chemistry and the acting chops to carry this unexpectedly moving film. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 8, 2021
Even in the film’s third act lurch into sheer melodrama, with brittle conversations carried out on eggshells, Morales and Duplass are wholly immersed in character. The twists are believable because they’re totally credible in their roles. Read full review
75
IndieWireKate ErblandMar 1, 2021
Morales and Duplass are both appealing enough that their charm shines through in even this seemingly limited format, and the result is an intimate feature that earns that closeness through every stilted video message and free-flowing video conference. Read full review
70
Film ThreatLorry KiktaMar 18, 2021
This film shows us that it is okay. We can survive. We can even thrive, and certainly, we can get by with a little help from our friends. Read full review
70
VarietyGuy LodgeMar 3, 2021
Films explicitly about the formation of friendships are rare, and Morales and Duplass have fashioned rather a perceptive one, adapting the push-pull dynamics of a romantic comedy to more delicate psychological terrain. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 3, 2021
Language Lessons, which comes from the Duplass Brothers indie production stable, is a small-scale debut but one graced with charm and genuine heart. Read full review
67
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 31, 2021
Language Lessons is often likable thanks to its small cast and improvisational nature which delivers beyond the kind of Zooom table reads that nonprofits were offering as pandemic fundraisers throughout the last year. However, in terms of its cinematic value, it never quite transcends, feeling like a film that’s necessary in the moment without exploring the impact of the pandemic head-on. Read full review
58
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMar 17, 2021
Unfortunately, Zoom movies do not really benefit anyone, Morales or otherwise (but hopefully this means, she gets another opportunity to do it for “real” out in the world). Duplass’ Spanish is good (a nice plus), and the movie’s intentions are in the right place; it’s warm, warm-hearted, and even mildly bittersweet, but in short, no more Zoom movies, please, and thanks. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottSep 9, 2021
The twists in the story are meant to raise the emotional stakes, but they have the opposite effect, undermining the credibility of the premise. The harder the movie leans into its own cleverness, the more it exposes itself as a diverting but ultimately unconvincing exercise. Read full review
50
Screen DailySarah WardMar 3, 2021
One of the most astute aspects of Morales and Duplass’ script is how it captures the twists and turns of a new friendship that is buoyed by excitement and yet remains tentative, and how it navigates the constant shifts that come with both fresh and established relationships. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDavid RobbMar 1, 2021
Had the film trusted its self-imposed minimalism a little more, it might have been a lot more successful as a character study. Read full review
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