When You Finish Saving the World
A24 | Release Date: January 20, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
15
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinKaren GordonJan 26, 2023
There’s more depth than meets the eye, and When You Finish Saving The World manages to be sweet and yet not sentimental, and with much to contemplate after the movie ends. Read full review
83
ColliderRoss BonaimeApr 12, 2022
When You Finish Saving the World is often acidic to a point that might scare away some, but at its core, Eisenberg’s film is an endearing story of mother and son who were once so close, and now struggle to get what they need from each other anymore. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 22, 2022
Abrupt to a fault but still unexpectedly moving, their perpendicular journeys back to a place of mutual appreciation ring true enough in a time when narcissism can bring joy to people around the planet, and altruism isn’t enough to guarantee a connection with your own kids. Read full review
80
IGNSiddhant AdlakhaJan 25, 2022
Led by moving performances from Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard, the film takes a roundabout approach to its drama, resulting in a realistic portrait of a relationship in stasis. Read full review
80
Film ThreatSabina Dana PlasseJan 23, 2022
When You Finish Saving the World offers unique insight into family dynamics in a modern society where the shallowness of a virtual world collides with real-life based on purpose and reason. Read full review
80
Screen DailyWendy IdeJan 22, 2022
This is pretty much exactly the kind of film that anyone familiar with Eisenberg’s body of acting work might imagine he would make: it’s sharp, challenging and wry, but as insistent and uncomfortable as a splinter. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJan 22, 2022
[A] bitterly funny, clear-eyed debut. Read full review
78
TheWrapSteve PondJan 22, 2022
Eisenberg emerges as a restrained filmmaker who has a clear idea of what he wants to communicate, and a clear, unfussy way of delivering it. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJan 18, 2023
Eisenberg, who has already proven himself to be a talented, unsparing writer, shows promise as a director. He has not made a flashy art film, but it’s a smart, biting and occasionally sweet character piece about unlikable characters that you still may want to root for, because, though it may be hard to admit, they’re not so different from us. Read full review
75
The PlaylistMarya E. GatesJan 22, 2022
Its many playful edits, careful world-building, stellar performances, and insightful screenplay suggest Eisenberg is a filmmaker with a deep understanding of form and an empathetic grasp of the flaws that make us human. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJan 22, 2022
Adapting the script from his own 2020 audio play, Eisenberg treats his cast with measured acidity, drawing out their snarky moods and narcissistic missteps without mocking them too cruelly; you may not particularly love these characters, but that's no match for how little they like themselves. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJan 23, 2023
This being an Eisenberg project—he also wrote the screenplay—the laughter comes with a wince attached as standard, and there is barely a scene, in a film constructed from social awkwardness, when your nails aren’t digging into your palms. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 20, 2023
Eisenberg is a thoughtful filmmaker, devoted to showing his characters as multi-dimensional, flawed human beings. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredMartin CarrFeb 10, 2022
Finn Wolfhard and Julianne Moore shine in this directorial debut from Jesse Eisenberg. Read full review
67
ConsequenceMary SirokyJan 22, 2022
It feels timely and relevant, and Eisenberg demonstrates clear aptitude both as writer and director. For as many questions as it raises, though, it’s a shame the movie itself isn’t quite sure how it wants them to be answered. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 19, 2023
Eisenberg is a fine writer and shows clear promise as a visual storyteller, but it becomes a chore to spend even an 88-minute movie with his increasingly off-putting characters. We know they’re not supposed to be likable, but they should be more interesting. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 10, 2023
When You Finish Saving the World is smart and articulate. It’s flippant. There’s a hint of idealism, a heavy dose of “not fitting in,” and an earnest desire to do right clashing with some self-mocking narcissism. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiJan 23, 2022
Jesse Eisenberg’s satire hits its targets dead on, but he flattens his mother-and-son narcissists to the point of caricature. Read full review
63
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 21, 2022
Prickly characters and a knack for mortifying situations strain to break free from When You Finish Saving the World’s limited and dispassionate plotting. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 20, 2022
When You Finish Saving the World is fine. It’s well made, witty, and Wolfhard and Moore are effortlessly convincing in their roles; Wolfhard shucking off his Stranger Things image in the process. The problem – if there is one – is in the smooth snark of the title. There are sharp edges here that never bite. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 18, 2022
The tricky mother-son relationship is well managed and Moore always brings to this kind of Oedipal drama a seriocomic intensity (as in Tom Kalin’s Savage Grace from 2007, playing opposite Eddie Redmayne). Read full review
60
VarietyAmy NicholsonJan 22, 2022
To When You’re Finished Saving the World, being good is exhausting and miserable, and aspiring to be good is even worse. Joy exists only to be taken away. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rebecca TuckerFeb 18, 2023
Perhaps a first-time director can be forgiven, like those teenage puppeteers, for not knowing how to get a message across without wearing it on his sleeve. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlJan 21, 2023
Eisenberg’s main concern is the screenplay, yet the canvas it’s drawing upon is so small that it boxes its imagination. The conflicts it creates for Evelyn and Ziggy are so simple and easily resolved that the film becomes a throwaway that’s quickly forgotten despite some of the cast’s good work. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJan 20, 2023
When You Finish Saving the World floats uncertainly on the edge of satire. This is a big problem. Satire can't be uncertain. Satire needs a sharp bite. When You Finish Saving the World is toothless by comparison. Read full review
50
Screen RantRachel LaBonteJan 19, 2023
When You Finish Saving the World is filled with interesting ideas and scenes, yet is hindered by character development that feels incomplete. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJan 19, 2023
As a micro case study about some acutely flawed 21st century strivers, When You Finish Saving the World has its well-turned moments, but when you want it to be gloriously messy about families and human interactions, it stays resolutely in lab mode. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisJan 19, 2023
Eisenberg has already proven himself a smart wordsmith and a knowing performer of emotional unease, but this “World” is a disappointingly shallow tale of narcissism and negligence. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJan 17, 2023
It’s a slight and simplistic family dramedy: vividly rendered if vaguely cartoonish in its depiction of a parent and adolescent, once close, who find themselves unable to connect. Read full review
50
UproxxVince ManciniJan 25, 2022
To its credit, When You Finish Saving The World is only 85 minutes long, so even if it doesn’t exactly set the world on fire at least it doesn’t overstay its welcome. There was maybe something here but it feels a little undercooked. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJan 22, 2022
Awkwardness ends up being the name of the game here, with Eisenberg constructing an intentional cringefest; the type of movie that has you squirming uncomfortably as you're forced to watch oblivious characters make total asses of themselves. Read full review
50
The Film StageJordan RaupJan 22, 2022
Despite an under-developed script, Wolfhard and Moore both deliver strong performances as their characters continue their parallel tracks, with narcissism blocking the desire to achieve their true goals and neither truly listening to the person they want to make happy. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerJan 19, 2023
Watching two irksome characters fall into a new co-dependence (all at the expense of other characters) is scarcely the emotional victory that Eisenberg presents it as. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 22, 2022
It’s a film of people telling themselves they’re making a difference without really doing much of anything and it’s hard not to feel similarly unmoved by the time it’s all over. Read full review
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