The Way He Looks
Strand Releasing | Release Date: November 7, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaNov 13, 2014
This is a wonderful movie. Read full review
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanNov 6, 2014
The tale, from Brazilian writer-director Daniel Ribeiro, is told with such tenderness, such intelligence and such aching honesty that it takes on the weight of something far more significant than puppy love. Like its subject, first kisses and best friends, it’s hard to forget. Read full review
80
Total FilmSimon KinnearDec 10, 2014
With the characters rarely verbalising their attraction, Ribeiro impresses by conveying Leonardo’s awakening through elegant long takes and the actors’ endearing chemistry. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijNov 7, 2014
Ribeiro’s screenplay, which is marbled with moments of humor as well as emotion, feels extremely well-tuned into the conflicted emotional lives of his adolescent characters, who often retreat into the safety of their childhood comfort zone after every exciting, but also scary, excursion into the adult unknown. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAndy WebsterNov 6, 2014
This winning movie — directed by Daniel Ribeiro, making his feature debut — dexterously weaves the social challenges of adolescence into a story of broader self-discovery. Read full review
80
EmpireLiz BeardsworthOct 20, 2014
Touching and well-acted, Brazil's Best Foreign Film entry is a worthy Oscar candidate. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniNov 7, 2014
Those who give into its spell will find this a gentle, moving, and deeply intelligent portrait of the awkward, fumbling steps teens make into adulthood, and the promise of first love that draws them on. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyNov 7, 2014
The Way He Looks is a modest and good-hearted film that leaves a clean impression: you’re glad to have spent time with the people in it, for sure. But if you’re someone whose own specific circumstances are substantively different from those of the characters, the sense of a pleasant visit is pretty much it. Read full review
75
TheWrapInkoo KangNov 7, 2014
Admirable throughout is the balance that Ribeiro strikes between dewy eroticism and the contextualization of sexuality as just a single aspect of one's identity, albeit an essential one. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineClayton DillardNov 3, 2014
What progressively mounts tension is the film's understanding of a boy's gradually realized homosexuality as being inextricable from the central metaphor of compromised vision. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKeith UhlichNov 6, 2014
Ribeiro captures the experiential awkwardness of young love pitch-perfectly. Read full review
60
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 25, 2015
You can’t help feeling you’ve seen variations on this coming-out story too many times (which applies to the gay theme as much as the disability one), and everyone is just a little too nice to be true, even the bullies. Read full review
60
VarietyJay WeissbergNov 7, 2014
The pic has genuine appeal, though in truth the script and direction are little more than average. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounOct 21, 2014
There are no great upsets or fireworks here, just a tender sketch of what it means to (probably) be gay as a school kid. The storytelling style is as inoffensive as the music (Arvo Pärt, Belle and Sebastian), and the performances are amiable and relaxed. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughDec 18, 2014
As for the performances, only homely Giovana has heart and depth. The two boys lack chemistry, even in chemistry class, due in part to the trite dialogue, or at least as it is translated in subtitles. Read full review
50
Village VoiceViolet LuccaOct 28, 2014
The shuffling of who's an important/close friend transcends the specificity of being gay and disabled, and that experience is rarely depicted as realistically as this. But the film crosses into self-parody. Read full review
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