Tom of Finland
Kino Lorber | Release Date: October 13, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Total FilmJosh Winning
If the imagery is less racy than TOF fans may be used to, Pekka Strang’s quiet turn as Laaksonen has a simmering power. Read full review
75
Washington PostKristen Page-KirbyDec 5, 2017
Strang plays him as someone who’s almost crippled by a life lived in fear. It’s a moving performance, rendering a character who, even when the sun is out, can’t quite bring himself to emerge from the shadows. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonOct 18, 2017
A good, strong movie, but never threatens to be great. One salivates at the adventurous directions the film could have explored. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinOct 19, 2017
Tom of Finland entertainingly recounts an intriguing and vital chapter of 20th-century gay history with style and deference. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 13, 2017
In a subtle but wily performance, Strang never loses sight of his character’s innate sense of resistance. By drawing his way out of the closet, Tom of Finland drew a door for others to come out as well. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie Collin
An interesting film rather than an engrossing one, and it’s hard not to wish it was a little more energised by its subject’s enduringly transgressive spirit. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew Anderson
Tom of Finland is imbued with playfulness but not the cutting edge, and bravery, of its eponymous leading man. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Having taken such pains to establish Tom’s Finnish background and its attendant dangers, Karukoski hurtles through the sketchy American section without exploring any of its crucial issues in sufficient depth. Read full review
58
The PlaylistBradley Warren
While often hamstrung by genre conventions, particularly in the picture’s first half, Tom of Finland is a passable entry into the LGBT film canon and largely successful in selling the subcultural relevance of the eponymous artist’s beefcake drawings. Read full review
50
Village VoiceChuck WilsonOct 19, 2017
The film is jammed with incident and detail but there’s little flow to the storytelling. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyOct 13, 2017
Its lively finale is heartening, given the patience that Laaksonen was obliged to exercise before he could live his life out in the open. But the insights of the movie are too scant for much of a real impression to take hold of the viewer. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergOct 12, 2017
While Mr. Laaksonen devoted his life (1920-91) to challenging conventions, the film is committed to honoring them. Read full review
40
TheWrapDan CallahanOct 11, 2017
Tom of Finland is a film about a man who was famous for very dirty drawings, but it is unfortunately restricted by a dehydrated kind of good taste from ever being very dirty or very sexy. Read full review
More From This Movie

56 Critic Reviews

7.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL