When Marnie Was There
GKIDS | Release Date: May 22, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 11, 2015
There is a quality of enchantment to When Marnie Was There that can’t be faked, and that the studio behind this animated feature is justifiably famous for. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernMay 21, 2015
The animation is dazzling. Read full review
80
Total FilmPhilip KempJun 6, 2016
A gentle tale, tinged with melancholy told with all the loving attention to detail you expect from Studio Ghibli. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMay 21, 2015
It deals with friendship, loneliness, abandonment and forgiveness, and though its curious narrative arc means you're never sure exactly where it's going, the film works up a considerable emotional charge by the end. Read full review
80
The DissolveTasha RobinsonMay 21, 2015
It’s a quiet film of modest narrative ambitions and simple shifts. But its technical and visual ambitions couldn’t be higher. It’s as if Ghibli is still trying to raise its own bar, so that even if it’s going out, it’s reminding viewers what they’d be missing. Read full review
80
Village VoiceSherilyn ConnellyMay 19, 2015
At its most beautiful, Yonebayashi's picture is about the magic of female friendship at its purest. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJan 15, 2015
Yonebayashi’s open-hearted tale, more than any other Ghibli offering, could conceivably have worked just as well in live-action, and yet the tender story gains so much from the studio’s delicate, hand-crafted approach. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJun 5, 2015
A bit too familiar, and at times gentle to a fault. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelJun 5, 2015
Deserves to be considered on its own merits, and while not a masterpiece, it is beautiful, nonetheless. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoJun 4, 2015
The film’s depiction of loss, isolation and reconciliation, and the rewards of friendship, grows more touching as the story builds to its highly emotional conclusion. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJun 4, 2015
Though the narrative of “Marnie” bogs down toward the end, this does not diminish its spell. Read full review
75
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeMay 27, 2015
It’s not the predictability that’s disappointing as much as the pat resolutions and emotional fixes provided to Anna. If you’re going to set up a young character who’s this complicated and in this much pain, you owe her a similarly complex catharsis. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoMay 22, 2015
It is filled with the luscious, beautiful 2D animation that we’ve come to expect from Ghibli, and if the storytelling sometimes gets a bit lethargic for its own good, we’re more forgiving just to have one final dance in the moonlight. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartMay 20, 2015
Subtle, sometimes really sad and honest about the struggles of adolescence, Marnie is a worthy last entry from Ghibli before the studio reportedly goes on hiatus. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineClayton DillardMay 17, 2015
The film at first plays like a refresher and throwback to Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service, before revealing itself to be less minimal than minor. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJun 4, 2015
There are no princesses, monsters or castles in the sky, but that doesn't mean there is no magic. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMay 22, 2015
When Marnie Was There may start off a bit awkwardly, but it'll have you bathing in your own tears by the time it's over. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMay 21, 2015
The conclusion is rushed and poorly staged, yet the damp caul of loneliness that envelops the film’s early scenes feels moving and true. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijJan 15, 2015
A beautifully animated tale of the growing friendship and occasionally rather cloying emotional travails of two 12-year-old girls. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerMay 27, 2015
As a children’s movie, it’s uncommonly sensitive and complicated, rooted in relationships rather than dazzling action. But adults may notice its simple poetry turning, after a while, to suds. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJun 3, 2015
This is, disappointingly, a long way from being a Studio Ghibli classic. The essential plot may be archetypal, but it’s no "Kiki’s Delivery Service." Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 21, 2015
Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi did a wonderful job adapting “The Borrowers” into “The Secret World of Arriety.” But this slow-moving film, also from a book, tends to plod rather than float. Read full review
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