Tomboy
Rocket Releasing | Release Date: November 16, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneNov 14, 2011
Tomboy is one of those little big films whose simplicity and concision suggest the excess of meaning that language (cinematic or otherwise) could never account for. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 16, 2011
The startling power of Tomboy, a beautiful, matter-of-fact French drama about a young girl who wants to be a boy - and for one singular summer around her 10th birthday passes as one - begins with the one-of-a-kind natural performance by Zoé Héran as Laure. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJan 25, 2012
Tomboy is tender and affectionate. It shows us Laure/Mikael in an adventure that may be forgotten in adulthood or may form her adulthood. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayNov 16, 2011
It's so much fun that as Tomboy moves toward its conclusion, the inevitable end of Héran's days as Mikael feels like watching someone die. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJan 26, 2012
Writer-director Celine Sciamma breaks little ground here, but her story is nicely scaled to the gender-rigid world of childhood, where boys playing soccer together take as much pride in their spitting skills as any scored goal. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDec 1, 2011
Tomboy stands out as an especially affecting delicacy about the thrills and pitfalls of exploring who one is. Read full review
80
MovielineAlison WillmoreNov 16, 2011
Laure is pleasingly uncute, with a gruff demeanor that gives way to affecting glimpses of vulnerability. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonNov 15, 2011
Tomboy astutely explores the freedom, however brief, of being untethered to the highly rule-bound world of gender codes. Read full review
80
Time OutDavid FearNov 15, 2011
Tomboy may add little to conversations about gender or sexuality. It has everything to say, however, about that period of childhood when identity is at its most malleable. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJan 27, 2012
Although Tomboy is as tightly constructed as a short story and as seemingly straightforward as a documentary, the parable about a small fib that grows out of control is so rooted in the rich soil of sexual identity that it entangles us. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyDec 8, 2011
Beautifully photographed by Crystel Fournier, Sciamma's film has a floaty weightlessness (as opposed to the heavyosity of "Boys Don't Cry") that neither judges nor pathologizes Laure. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterDec 1, 2011
It may be a slim story, but its gentle humour, natural rhythm and above all authentic performances make Tomboy beautiful, intimate cinema. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 1, 2011
Tomboy is as visually beautiful as its 10-year-old heroine is defiantly plain. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 22, 2011
Less subtle than its predecessor, Tomboy is like a pint-size "Boys Don't Cry," and as such, it's practically unique. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartNov 16, 2011
A pre-pubescent "Boys Don't Cry" with a much sweeter tone, this thoughtful French comic drama follows Laure (Zoé Héran), a 10-year-old girl who yearns to be a boy. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 15, 2011
The story that emerges is programmatic and largely unsurprising, but these children give it messiness, joy and life. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenDec 7, 2011
This French import is as casual as the summer afternoons of childhood that it depicts. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerDec 3, 2011
Once summer ends and the kids enroll in school, the jig will be up. The film ends with that eventuality. It would have been richer if it had opened with it. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna SmithNov 13, 2011
A tender, sensitive French drama rich in hazy atmosphere. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNov 18, 2011
Its young heroine is proud to be herself; there's just not much for her to do beyond that. Read full review
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