Our Little Sister
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 8, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonSep 15, 2016
Don’t be put off by the need to read subtitles. Rarely has a film more eloquently captured the universality of human experience. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 29, 2016
Our Little Sister zooms in close, observing everyday rituals, the commonplace that suddenly turns significant. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonJul 15, 2016
Based on “Umimachi Diary,” a best-selling graphic novel by Akimi Yoshida, Our Little Sister might be Kore-eda’s best film yet. It is certainly one of the best films of 2016. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 7, 2016
Seeming to wander through small incidents and mundane busyness, it acquires momentum and dramatic weight through a brilliant kind of narrative stealth. You are shaken, by the end, at how much you care about these women and how sorry you are to leave their company. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 7, 2016
A delicate, unforced meditation on the bonds of family and the joys and wonders hidden in everyday life, this film is able to move audiences without apparent effort, and that must be experienced firsthand to be appreciated and understood. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldAug 11, 2016
It’s a movie that, by its serene final scene, changes its viewer. You leave happier, honored to have been, for two hours, part of this family. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 8, 2016
Kore-eda has a gift for portraying goodness that is quite rare. He does so without a whisper of banality. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghAug 18, 2016
Koreeda makes thrilling the rich inner lives of four young women trying to navigate rocky emotional terrain in the wake of their father’s death. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 14, 2016
If you’re looking for something to lift you up and take you away from the tumult and anguish of the moment, seek out Our Little Sister, a lovely new film, in Japanese with English subtitles, that’s going into national distribution this week. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJul 7, 2016
The practiced calmness of Kore-eda’s approach is such that you barely notice the speed at which he tugs the plot along and flips from one setting to the next. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounJul 7, 2016
An intimate, warm embrace of a film, it radiates joy and harmony despite playing out entirely in the shadow of a difficult father's death. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 23, 2015
The film is quiet, understated and gentle, allowing the audience to take pleasure in teasing out its narrative subtleties, and presented with wonderful freshness and clarity. Read full review
80
Screen DailyDan FainaruMay 23, 2015
Kore-Eda’s film is more than the beautifully luminous faces of his actresses, the particular way they move and speak, or the lovely landscapes of Kamakura, even though all of these should be admired. So much more lies buried in-between the lines. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyMay 23, 2015
Precisely because it’s less emotionally coercive than Kore-eda’s last couple of pictures, it’s even more moving: rather than lunging full-bore for the solar plexus, the truths it’s telling creep up on you. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 7, 2016
Kore-eda is one of the most optimistic and humanist filmmakers working today, and even though Our Little Sister isn’t quite as finely articulated as some of his previous work, his core compassion for humanity comes through clearly. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanAug 17, 2016
By the end, a Zen-like calm that might be mistaken for stasis settles over the story. But these lives move forward slowly, inexorably, and they move us, too. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Nathalie AtkinsonJul 21, 2016
It’s subdued, at times even too leisurely, but the film and its characters are luminous, especially lead Ayase Haruka. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJul 8, 2016
I can't think of another recent domestic drama that is simultaneously so optimistic and so melancholic. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloJul 6, 2016
As a result, the movie version feels a tad weightless, especially relative to its hefty running time. Anyone in the mood for two hours (and change) of sheer, unadulterated loveliness, however, will be amply rewarded. Read full review
70
VarietyMaggie LeeMay 23, 2015
Koreeda’s sensitive yet lucid helming keeps the performances precise yet natural. Read full review
67
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 23, 2015
Kore-eda's trademark humility and humanism is here, and we do get glimpses, even stretches, that suggest the piercingly bittersweet vitality of his best work. But "Our Little Sister" feels like "Kore-eda lite." Read full review
63
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 28, 2016
Unlike the Makioka sisters, this quartet lack ambiguity and mystery. Read full review
63
Washington PostVanessa H. LarsonJul 14, 2016
To his credit, Kore-eda avoids oversentimentality in a narrative that could easily have indulged in it. Yet the unhurried pacing and minimal dramatic tension — even when an important character makes an appearance midway through the story — feels unsatisfying. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayJul 4, 2016
The film's reserve softens some of its more piquant observations about tradition and mortality. Read full review
60
Total FilmKate StablesMar 30, 2017
Filled with cherry-blossom gorgeousness and sentimental homages to small-town Japanese life, it's a film of quiet, telling moments, even when big revelations surface. Read full review
60
Village VoiceKenji FujishimaJul 12, 2016
Our Little Sister often vibrates with such tenderness of feeling that it’s difficult to dismiss outright. The excellent performances from the four lead actresses help offset the occasional heavy-handedness of the script, with Kore-eda alive to their distinctive tics and gestures. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 23, 2015
The humour is as gentle as the girls are and, without sharp edges, the film occasionally veers towards schmaltz, but Kore-eda's deft touch and his eye for a subtle yet precise detail keeps the world grounded and consistently interesting, funny and at times moving. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMay 23, 2015
It feels ineffably slight even if it’s a consistent pleasure to spend time in the company of these three likeable women. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernJul 7, 2016
Despite fine intentions and four lovely performances from the female leads, Our Little Sister is simply too light to be felt. It floats away in the wind—and the memory — like a paper umbrella. Read full review
50
TheWrapTricia OlszewskiJul 8, 2016
The film’s two-plus-hour running time is a patience-tester. Read full review
50
The Film StageGiovanni Marchini CamiaJun 20, 2016
Had the story been more focused rather than trying to encompass all four sisters as protagonists as well as integrate a number of redundant secondary characters, it likely could have yielded more satisfying results. Read full review
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