The Novelist's Film
Cinema Guild | Release Date: October 28, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
83
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesAustin ConsidineOct 27, 2022
A Chekhovian study in small moments and chance encounters, which is to say it is a study of human beings as they really live: ambiguously and without exposition, spontaneously and without tidy motives or resolution. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangNov 9, 2022
The structuring theme of The Novelist’s Film may be artistic frustration, the kind that can spur a writer to call it quits, an actor to take a break and even an established director to reconsider his calling. But it’s also very much about finding creative renewal in unexpected places — a bookstore, an outdoor trail, a movie theater — and learning to embrace, rather than resist, life’s beautifully meandering flow. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJake ColeFeb 16, 2022
The film proves that Hong Sang-soo has yet to exhaust his methods of deriving significance and beauty from the most quotidian of details. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 27, 2022
I can’t say whether Hong has suffered any of the creative self-doubts that animate his latest heroine, but the film he’s made for her feels as revealing as the one she then makes for herself. Free your art, your art will free you in return — a nice idea, but one that the uniqueness of Hong’s career makes easier to admire than it is to internalize. Read full review
83
The PlaylistMark AschFeb 18, 2022
Though it lacks the near-spiritual dimension of the recent “In Front of Your Face” (Hong’s best in years), The Novelist’s Film is another focused, charming autofiction, well-structured yet open to the inspirations of serendipity. Read full review
80
SlashfilmMike ShuttNov 2, 2022
The style, tone, and characters will be familiar to you, but there will be a richness that might not be there otherwise. Then again, Hong Sang-soo is a keen observer of humanity and a skilled enough filmmaker that it probably works terrifically on its own. Read full review
80
The New YorkerRichard BrodyOct 24, 2022
The Novelist’s Film is straightforwardly chronological and naturalistic, but that makes it no less intricate or sophisticated a reflection on the nature of movies, both intellectual and practical. Read full review
80
VarietyGuy LodgeFeb 18, 2022
Ultimately, The Novelist’s Film defends the idea of drift and hiatus, of time spent idling to hear your own thoughts, in their own sweet time. Read full review
80
Screen DailyJonathan RomneyFeb 18, 2022
Some small-scale but surprising formal twists, and much playfulness, will keep his admirers happy. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 18, 2022
The deadpan edge of much of the film’s 90 minutes of prattle conceals thoughts on the insularity of creative communities, the ticking clock of an artist’s life and the importance of remaining open to finding truth even in what appear to be random connections. Read full review
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