The BFG
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: July 1, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 48 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
17
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJul 9, 2016
A gently spellbinding drama that captures the old-fashioned enchantment of Roald Dahl’s book. Read full review
100
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 14, 2016
It’s a weighty technical accomplishment – the extraordinary detailed motion-capture technology alone, which stretches Rylance’s human performance to giant-sized proportions, is river-straddling bounds beyond anything you’ve seen before. Read full review
90
Little White LiesSophie Monks KaufmanDec 1, 2021
The BFG’s greatest strength is its simplicity. This is a film built for children that delights with fantastical details while gently pushing a heartfelt message about the power of dreams. Read full review
90
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 14, 2016
No matter how fantastical the tale (and it gets pretty out-there at points), this splendid Steven Spielberg-directed adaptation makes it possible for audiences of all ages to wrap their heads around one of the unlikeliest friendships in cinema history, resulting in the sort of instant family classic “human beans” once relied upon Disney to deliver. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJul 1, 2016
Every few seconds there's an image that delights for delight's sake. Read full review
83
The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicMay 14, 2016
The BFG exceeds expectations thanks to Rylance’s performance, and joyously expounds the essence of a cherished children’s tale in all of its imaginative glory. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 30, 2016
Despite the compromises that typically attend a studio-made family entertainment — especially one that has been adapted, however lovingly, from a sharper, edgier piece of source material — The BFG also possesses a rich and unmistakably Spielbergian understanding of the loneliness of childhood, and of the enduring consolations that friendship and imagination can offer. Not unlike its title character, the movie can be cloddish and clumsy, but it is also a thing of wily cleverness and lithe, surprising grace. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 30, 2016
The BFG has fizz to spare. It’s an effervescent charmer. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMay 20, 2016
This ambitious blend of live action and computer animation runs the risk of being overwhelming and sterile, but it turns out to be a pleasing and sweet-natured adventure thanks in large part to Spielberg’s big, friendly secret weapon: Mark Rylance, as the BFG himself. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounMay 14, 2016
Flaws aside, this is a superior, inventive kids' film, and one that's bound to make Rylance's giant a favourite with younger audiences. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 14, 2016
It seems pointless to say that the big friendly giant is the star of The BFG. But casting has never been more crucial. A typically distinctive, eccentric and seductive star performance from Mark Rylance absolutely makes this movie what it is. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 29, 2016
A lauded Shakespearean actor and adapter who won an Oscar last year for his collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on "Bridge of Spies," Rylance portrays the body (via motion-capture) and certainly soul of this gentle giant. In his mournful, lyrical cadence, he makes poetry out of the BFG’s gobbledygook command of English. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 1, 2016
And tell me if I'm nuts, but another distraction: Doesn't the BFG bear a striking resemblance to George W. Bush? Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickJun 30, 2016
A visually dazzling summer treat. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJun 30, 2016
If The BFG is unlikely to become a cultural phenomenon of the magnitude of “E.T.,” it’s a film that casts a unique and often mesmerizing spell. But it’s also a bit too talky, particularly in the early going, and Spielberg lets numerous opportunities for humor slip by. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 30, 2016
Much of The BFG, perhaps a little too much, is devoted to watching Sophie madly scurry away from the giants; it’s a beautifully rendered chase but still just a chase. When the movie slows down to allow Rylance and Barnhill to converse, it finds its magic. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 29, 2016
Too eccentric to be a massive box-office hit yet too mainstream for a cult following; it nevertheless deserves to be seen. Mostly, it works as a singular and slightly wobbly mash-up of two creative artists and their differing sensibilities, and it benefits greatly from the contributions of one brilliant actor and one little girl. Maybe I’m squibbling, but I think it’s pretty delumptious. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 29, 2016
For special effects alone, there's no problem: They're spectacular. And there's no faulting Mark Rylance, a newly-minted Oscar winner for Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, whose motion-capture performance as a 24-foot giant is both subtly nuanced and truly monumental. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 29, 2016
The movie becomes inventive in new ways and even cheery. It’s a true delight. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 29, 2016
For once, underneath all the motion capture folderol, the key performance really does feel like a full, real, vital performance. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 29, 2016
John Williams composes a sprawling, effervescent score that, while not his best, certainly captures the musical magic that makes his partnership with Spielberg so special. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineChristopher GrayJun 27, 2016
The film, full of such quietly inventive visual magic, is perfectly content to simply revel in the stuff dreams are made of. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 14, 2016
As appealing and likeable as The BFG is, the movie doesn’t seem particularly groundbreaking or daring when it comes from Spielberg, who is revisiting his major themes here without necessarily reinventing them. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 1, 2016
The result is that the wonderment, with nothing serious at risk, seems lackluster. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 27, 2016
Spielberg doesn't pull heart strings as much as push the right buttons, dutiful to an undercooked story. The BFG begins like a classic fairy tale and ends with helicopters and fart jokes, a tonal dissonance that is Dahl's fault, not the film's. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJun 23, 2016
Parents looking for a 21st-century E.T. to share with their kids are bound to be a bit disappointed even as their eyes are dazzled. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnMay 14, 2016
An eager crowdpleaser from one of the world's greatest crowdpleasers, it gets the job done and nothing more. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 1, 2016
Contrasting The BFG to "E.T." does the new film a disservice, and it’s mediocre enough that it doesn’t need the comparison to emphasize its shortcomings. In recent years, Spielberg has become a hit-and-miss filmmaker and this is closer to a “miss” than a “hit.” Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorJun 30, 2016
The movie trots pleasantly along, but it never races. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 30, 2016
Roald Dahl’s beloved ad­ven­ture tale about a brave little girl who befriends the titular Big Friendly Giant, finds Steven Spielberg in his natural element of childlike enchantment, yet also strangely out of step, his trusted sense of narrative propulsion and pacing occasionally failing him in a saggy, draggy second act. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 27, 2016
So The BFG isn’t the “BFD” it might have been. Lovely as it often is, it’s a one hour and fifty-seven minute long kids’ movie designed to be watched, at home, with interruptions. And believe me, you’ll know it. Read full review
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