Silent Friend
1-2 Special | Release Date: May 8, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
88
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalZachary BarnesMay 7, 2026
The film has a remarkable formal and narrative fluidity, not presenting its three stories as discrete chapters but cutting effortlessly from one to the other, with Ms. Enyedi sometimes dipping into a period for the length of only a shot or two before spinning off to a different storyline. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 6, 2026
Built around silences and the steady accumulation of human and natural detail, the story feels at times as if it’s being told by the tree itself: omniscient, unflinching, yet shot through with an almost alien tenderness. Its perspective is not so much Olympian as it is pointillist. Read full review
100
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 13, 2025
Strange, enrapturing, simultaneously vast and minute, Enyedi’s latest spends a lot of time considering how we perceive our surrounding flora — but just as much on how it perceives us, which is where it starts to get a bit special, and even a bit sexy. Read full review
91
The Film StageSavina PetkovaSep 13, 2025
Immersing yourself in the daze of Silent Friend is like accepting a joyous gift, even if you don’t ultimately believe that plants can or want to communicate with us. With her exquisite new work, Ildikó Enyedi has achieved the improbable goal of making non-human, humanistic cinema that is inclusive and reverent without falling into idolization (of plants) or condemnation (of humans). Read full review
90
Next Best PictureJosh ParhamSep 13, 2025
A profoundly moving experience about nuanced thematic explorations of connections that is exceptionally crafted. The somber filmmaking highlights an engaging atmosphere, and the narrative is layered, nuanced, and captivating. The performances are all exceptional. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerSep 13, 2025
Enyedi is a master stylist who knows how to create a certain mood, mixing visual poetry with deadpan humor, and big ideas with quotidian foibles, in a film that explores our mysterious relationship with both the green world and one another. Read full review
80
IONCINEMA.comNicholas BellMay 8, 2026
With a vibrating audio palette and crisply edited finesse, Silent Friend becomes a sensuous immersive experience, flitting between observational instances of periods and characters, pollinating the audience with characteristics of its players with just enough information to keep desiring more. Read full review
80
Screen DailyJonathan RomneySep 13, 2025
While the three sections don’t tie up narratively, nor strictly conclude as such, they leave plenty of ideas in their wake – and a multitude of entrancing images. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineEli FriedbergMay 5, 2026
Despite loose ends, it’s one of the most dreamily affectionate (and affectionately critical) portrayals of the natural sciences ever committed to the screen. Read full review
75
IndieWireLeila LatifSep 13, 2025
In the end, Silent Friend is a film of contradictions, profound, complex, and beautiful, but occasionally interminably boring. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBeatrice LoayzaMay 7, 2026
Plenty of things happen, but Silent Friend isn’t traditionally plot-driven. It’s a film of sprawling ideas that float around like pollen, with some particles creating marvelous blooms. Others drift off aimlessly. Read full review
More From This Movie

88 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL