The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Netflix | Release Date: March 1, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
6
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 28, 2019
For all these self-effacing but highly valuable reasons, when the triumphs of the human, agricultural and engineering spirits arrive, they work. It’s moving, and it’s earned. Ejiofor is off and running as a director. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleFeb 28, 2019
The tale of a kid whose rebellion is in feeding his knowledge is rousing enough, but it’s to Ejiofor’s credit that he takes care to meaningfully dramatize how the systems around William — social, economic and political — create a perfect storm of obstacles for anyone in a struggling community trying to seed a future. Read full review
80
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanFeb 27, 2019
Exhibiting a dexterity that suggests far more extensive directorial experience, Ejiofor proves himself a master of impact. His visual approach is expansive and evocative, thanks also to the fine work of cinematographer Dick Pope. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 21, 2019
Chiwetel Ejiofor has made his debut as writer-director, and the result is exhilarating and rather inspiring – a story of success against the odds, of ingenuity and resourcefulness, of a father and son painfully coming to terms with each other. Read full review
80
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 30, 2019
It’s a conventional film in many ways but one that slowly and effectively builds to a remarkably rousing climax, displaying an act of overwhelming ingenuity that’s hard to deny. Read full review
75
The AtlanticDavid SimsMar 1, 2019
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind could’ve been a conventional narrative of despair and redemption; in Ejiofor’s hands, it builds realism and context into both sides of that story and manages to be a winning adaptation as a result. Read full review
75
The Film StageDan MeccaFeb 27, 2019
In many respects, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind feels like a showcase of immense talent, both in front of and behind the camera. If stories like this can continue to be told with the confidence of fresh filmmaking voices like Chiwetel Ejiofor, we will all be better for it. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisFeb 25, 2019
Obviously a passion project, but Ejiofor keeps his film grounded in reality and avoids histrionics. And even though the plot is predictable from the get-go, the cast in uniformly good, and it’s hard not to be moved when William’s water-pumping invention carries the day. His story is one that’s worth telling. Read full review
75
The PlaylistJason BaileyJan 30, 2019
The director resists the urge to make the family too heroic – in fact, his own character takes an unsympathetic turn near the end, which must’ve been a tough call. But it matters, because it renders his deeply-felt joy and pride at the picture’s conclusion all the more potent. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyJan 26, 2019
Ejiofor’s movie eloquently harnesses all these customary elements and yields them into an irresistible family film that plays like a brand-new “October Sky” with an urgent human-interest dimension at its heart. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 30, 2019
This earnest tale succeeds thanks to its potent themes — including the tension between old traditions and new ways of thinking — and Ejiofor locates the story’s emotional underpinnings without succumbing to cheap manipulation or mawkishness. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 30, 2019
Made with the intelligence and good taste one expects from Ejiofor, the involving film cares about much more than the sweeping images of triumph with which it inevitably closes. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 30, 2019
Ejiofor’s compassionate script, adapted from William’s 2009 memoir, is finely attuned to the cold realities that confront its warm characters. It only struggles to chart a clear arc for its protagonist, who remains a bright and quietly determined kid from start to finish, while his (often sidelined) father is the one who best embodies the film’s conflict. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 10, 2022
Ejiofor’s movie teases and never lets us forget exactly where it’s heading. And it uses an almost unforgivable amount of its running time taking us where we know it is going. Read full review
63
Slant MagazinePaul O'CallaghanFeb 22, 2019
Chiwetel Ejiofor announces himself as a sensitive, shrewdly restrained filmmaker with his quietly assured directorial debut. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaFeb 28, 2019
The film remains too mannered for its own good; it’s unquestionably nice and well-intentioned, but lacking momentum. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 28, 2019
Though hobbled by an obviousness that dampens any suspense, this sensitive, environmentally concerned movie is most successful when steeped in the particularities of its location. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeFeb 24, 2019
While it takes a few dramatic liberties and could have benefited from a tighter edit, there’s a swell of goodwill as the story progresses that is hard to resist. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 16, 2019
Sagging at times, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind feels as though it might have played better as a mid-length short film, with subplots pruned back. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyJan 30, 2019
Competently mounted yet plodding, it’s manifestly a labor of love that becomes a bit of a labor to watch. Read full review
50
ConsequenceBlake GobleMar 5, 2019
To commend The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is reasonably easy. Here’s a film that’s pro-science, and sheds new light on a world that Western audiences don’t normally see. But it’s all so dramatically meager and obvious as well. Read full review
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