Like Father, Like Son
Sundance Selects | Release Date: January 17, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJan 23, 2014
Powered by Kore-eda's innate restraint and natural empathy, Like Father, Like Son takes these characters to places they never expected to be. It's unnerving for them, of course, but watching so many hearts hanging in the balance is a rare privilege for us. Read full review
100
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 23, 2014
The questions posed by Like Father, Like Son are universal in nature and the manner in which Kore-eda addresses them makes for superior drama. Read full review
100
Village VoiceErnest HardyJan 14, 2014
It's charming, gently humorous, and beautifully attuned to the interior lives of children. Read full review
100
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 23, 2013
Kore-eda has crafted a piercing, tender poem about the bittersweet ebb and flow of paternal love, and his status as Ozu's heir becomes ever more assured. Read full review
100
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMay 23, 2013
Hirokazu has crafted a warm and lovely film that suggests the easiest thing about raising a child is embracing how complicated it can be. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsJan 30, 2014
Like Father, Like Son is always wise about the quandary faced by the two fathers and the two mothers. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJan 17, 2014
While I’m not a parent myself, I can see how Like Father, Like Son would be a tough sit for any parent. Tough, but extremely worthwhile. Read full review
88
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeJan 17, 2014
Like Father, Like Son has earned its right to reduce a person to a sobbing wreck. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 19, 2014
This is a difficult film, one that asks questions that can’t really be answered. There are a couple of surprises along the way, but more than anything Koreeda is getting at what really makes a family a family. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJan 23, 2014
Like Father, Like Son has still more on its mind — a vision of a Japan in which work will be balanced with leisure and love. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 22, 2014
There are passages of gravity and grace here that few other directors could unfurl. [27 Jan. 2014, p. 78]
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJan 14, 2014
Even if you’re not boned up on your classic Ozu family tragedies, see it before Spielberg does his remake. Read full review
80
EmpireSimon CrookOct 14, 2013
Another quiet delight from Koreeda. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFeb 19, 2014
This Japanese film by that country’s preeminent surveyor of contemporary familial relationships explores humanity’s ambivalence regarding the matter. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Geoff PevereMar 6, 2014
While the case could be made that Koreeda is merely replicating the world as the blinkered Ryota sees it, the disparity between the characters’ development still leaves you feeling slightly cheated, if only because you want to see more of what this truly gifted student of human behaviour might do with them. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoFeb 13, 2014
The director takes an unpromising premise - the switched-at-birth plot - and gives us something that's touching and unexpected. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 17, 2014
Despite the film’s emphasis on Ryota’s transformation, the most piercing moment for me came in the scene in which his wife anguishes over her guilt in not realizing right away, as a mother, that Keita was not her birth son. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisJan 16, 2014
Mr. Hirokazu never overly explains his stories through the dialogue, preferring to tease out their meaning visually. Read full review
70
NPRMark JenkinsJan 16, 2014
Kore-eda is himself a father now, which may explain why his work has gotten sunnier. Read full review
70
The DissolveNoel MurrayJan 15, 2014
What makes Like Father, Like Son so quietly powerful is that for the most part, it doesn’t traffic in stereotypes. Read full review
70
VarietyMaggie LeeMay 23, 2013
The director retains his controlled style even as he moves toward a more traditional narrative mode. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc MohanFeb 27, 2014
If Like Father, Like Son had set up a genuine conflict here, this could have been a fascinating, even gut-wrenching, melodrama. Instead, writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda stacks the deck by making Ryota such a highfalutin jerk and Yudai such an exemplar of cozy, loving family life. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnMay 23, 2013
The story works wonderfully as an idea, but Kore-eda never quite manages to infuse it with the same depth of feeling his main character goes through. Read full review
63
Boston GlobePeter KeoughFeb 13, 2014
A bittersweet musing about the nature of parenthood and about the conflict between nature and nurture, it is as banal and insightful as its title. Read full review
62
Film.comCalum MarshSep 11, 2013
The film is starved for the kind of nuance Kore-eda wields effortlessly elsewhere. What’s left without it is something merely schematic. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanJan 16, 2014
The child performances are stellar, though most striking is how the film’s sympathies spread to everyone. Read full review
60
Total FilmTom DawsonDec 23, 2013
Although a bit over-neat in its contrasts between the respective families, Like Father, Like Son remains an affecting film, thanks to Fukuyama’s understated turn and Koreeda’s typically graceful visual storytelling. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungMay 23, 2013
A lovely film that makes little emotional connection. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonGuy LodgeMay 23, 2013
There’s typical grace and good humour in Kore-eda’s handling of this all-but-impossible situation. But the film’s critical lack of dramatic nuance undercuts its emotional resonance. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 23, 2013
This is a sweet-natured, but essentially undemanding film from Kore-eda. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJan 15, 2014
Like Father, Like Son has the overall depth and tenor of a Lifetime movie. Kore-Eda can do much better. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 13, 2014
Like Father, Like Son grows on you, subtly and over time. Just as with the unexpected realignments forced on its characters, it may be difficult to fall in love with the movie, but eventually you do warm up to it. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSep 17, 2013
The film scores all of its thematic points early, commenting intriguingly, if ultimately rather obviously, on the demands of Japanese patriarchy. Read full review
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