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
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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