We Are the Best!
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: May 30, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMay 29, 2014
Mr. Moodysson's film is little only in physical and financial scale. When measured by the pleasure it confers, We Are the Best! is a big deal that will be winning hearts — and even grownup minds — for a long time to come. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenMay 29, 2014
Moodysson captures that moment — charged, goofy and transcendent — when personal style and wide-ranging outrage fuse in an all-encompassing manifesto. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMay 29, 2014
There is hardly a shortage of movies about rock ’n’ roll, but there are few as perfect — which is to say as ragged, as silly, as touching or as true — as We Are the Best!. Read full review
100
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMay 28, 2014
You don't have to like punk rock to fall in love with We Are the Best!; if a more joyous film comes along in 2014, then it's a good year indeed. Read full review
100
New York PostLou LumenickMay 28, 2014
No film I’ve seen so far this year has provided the sheer moviegoing pleasure of We Are the Best! Read full review
100
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMay 27, 2014
The most gratifying thing about the film is feeling Moodysson’s warmth return to him. Read full review
100
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekMay 27, 2014
Brash and sweet, We Are the Best! captures perfectly the aimlessness of adolescence, the waiting to become something that's so often intertwined with the desire to make something, to leave your mark on the world in some small way. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMay 30, 2014
One of the funniest and happiest movies I’ve ever seen about early adolescent girls and their wayward, fitful joyousness. Read full review
91
IndieWireEric KohnMay 29, 2014
Despite the unruly music at its center, the filmmaker has crafted a uniformly gentle ode to growing up. Read full review
90
SlateDana StevensDec 15, 2014
The movie is at its best when Moodysson... lets his three rebellious heroines simply exist and interact as the overgrown children the actresses still are, collapsing in laughter during a cafeteria food fight or negotiating their first stiff flirtations with a like-minded group of punk-rock-loving boys. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneySep 16, 2013
Funny and frank in its observations, the film is a delightful snapshot of female friendship at that age, from the giddy highs to the melancholy funks, from the sustaining bonds to the jealousies and stinging betrayals. Read full review
90
VarietyGuy LodgeSep 16, 2013
It’s the rare film about adolescence that doesn’t seem exclusively targeted either to teens or to adults. Rarer still, it’s one that takes an interest in the nourishing qualities of female friendship. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJun 13, 2014
Funny, passionate, full of compassion for its just-pubescent protagonists, We Are the Best! is a total charmer. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 12, 2014
A messy, congenial empowerment story that knows how aggravating adolescence can be when you refuse to fit in. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Pasha MallaMay 29, 2014
Even when his touch is light, the Swedish filmmaker is masterful at capturing youth’s contracted perception of time and amplified emotions: Every slight could mean the end of the world, and every joy feels limitless. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversMay 29, 2014
What we have here is an exhilarating blast of a movie, full of heart but still punk rock. So don’t get all pissy because it’s in Swedish (with English subtitles) and you never heard of anyone in it and coming-of-age movies about girls make you puke. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 31, 2014
The film is a breath of fresh air — there is a lovely awkwardness to the coming-of-age tale that makes it feel almost like an enthusiastic early effort from a talented neophyte as opposed to the eighth feature from an established, albeit arthouse, director. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMay 28, 2014
The film’s surface is as spiky as its protagonists’ hair and wardrobe, but the overall effect can only be described as downright endearing. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 19, 2014
The girls bring a passion to the band that they can muster nowhere else in their lives. Not everyone gets what they're doing — well, no one, really — but that's the point. This is a knowing film, and a liberating one. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon WiseApr 14, 2014
A very welcome return from Moodysson. The music is Wyld Stallions-grade, but the charm and spirit of the three girls will have you moshing in your seat. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonApr 11, 2014
We Are the Best! is a joyous celebration of youth, friendship and rebellion, and if there’s a nagging note of regret and bitterness it never manages to undermine the overwhelmingly compassionate tone. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesJun 11, 2014
Sweet-spirited and sometimes meandering but always working in the service of its young protagonists’ perspective, We Are the Best! might come off as slight if you aren’t paying attention, or you pay too much attention to the too-cute closing credits montage. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJun 5, 2014
Despite the increase in seriousness, the film's mood is buoyant, as it's impossible not to root for these appealing if flawed youngsters. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineClayton DillardMay 27, 2014
Lukas Moodysson's film allows its trio of girls to express themselves through gender, certainly, but not undermine their desire to be heard as artists first. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMay 26, 2014
A scruffy, anarchic picture that gets better as it stumbles along. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyMay 21, 2014
As a coming-of-age story, the film is a bit uneventful. But the girls’ rebellious, fist-in-the-air spirit and the warmth of their friendship are undeniable. Read full review
70
The DissolveNoel MurrayMay 28, 2014
As vibrant and ingratiating as We Are The Best! is, the movie lacks the more satisfying fullness of Moodysson’s Together and Lilya 4-Ever. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMay 29, 2014
A charming coming-of-age drama. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireMay 30, 2014
The film’s winsome, self-satisfied comedy will no doubt appeal more to viewers who prize juvenile hi-jinks over the cultural moment it depicts. Read full review
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