---
title: "Anomalisa: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/anomalisa/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/anomalisa"
critics_score: 80
critics_reviews: 28
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Anomalisa (2015): what the critics said

Critics' score 80 from 28 reviews: 25 positive, 1 mixed, 2 negative.

Most critics come away moved. The reviews agree that Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion puppets, seams and facial lines left visible, do something live actors could not: they make a lonely man’s numb world look and sound exactly as he experiences it, with every stranger sharing one face and one voice. Praise clusters on the one night he spends with Lisa, and on the sex scene in particular, which several critics single out as tender, awkward and unexpectedly real. Lisa herself is widely described as the film’s one bright creation.

The reservations are fewer but sharp. A handful find the resolution predictable by Kaufman’s standards, or the opening stretch too literal about depression. Vulture admires the animation but tires of the protagonist’s undiluted self-pity. The New Yorker argues the film shares its hero’s obliviousness to everyone around him, and The New York Times finds its cast of whiners and depressives painful company. Those two sit a long way below an otherwise tightly bunched, warm consensus.

## Empire — Ian Freer

Rating ★★★★★. 7 March 2016. 

The critic calls it a minor miracle of a movie and the most beautiful, haunting, empathetic, tender and funny film of the year so far. They single out the poignant consideration of human fragility and the heartfelt connection between the leads.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/anomalisa-review/)

## Radio Times — Leslie Felperin

Rating ★★★★★. 8 March 2016. 

Hails it as exquisitely sad, strange, and achingly humane, noting the innovative combination of themes in puppet form and the moving, funny elements like Lisa's song.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/anomalisa-review-exquisitely-sad-strange-and-achingly-humane/)

## Time Out — Dave Calhoun

Rating 5/5. 8 September 2015. 

Calls it a downbeat masterpiece, lauding the stop-motion puppetry and its probing of happiness, love, and mental fragility in a simple yet majestic story.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/anomalisa)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2016. 

The critic calls it a strange miniature masterpiece and a hilariously funny yet horribly real animation about the unbearable loneliness of being and the prison of identity. He singles out the extraordinarily real sex scene and the way the puppet animation heightens the sense of fragile, uncanny human life.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/mar/10/anomalisa-review-charlie-kaufman-puppet-masterpiece-about-the-human-condition)

## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2015. 

The critic praises the stop-motion puppets for creating an uncanny effect that reveals humanity in artificial forms, making the film moving, funny and disturbing at once. The review highlights the existential themes of love, delusion and consumer culture through the story of a man encountering the one distinct voice in a monotonous world.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-of-the-week-anomalisa/)

## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2016. 

The critic describes the film as wonderful, haunting, indelible and incredible, an inspired miniature about madness, male menopause and the redemptive possibilities of love. He singles out the absurdly touching one-night romance and the tender, delicate puppet sex scene.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/8231df3c-e6bc-11e5-a09b-1f8b0d268c39)

## Los Angeles Times — Michael Phillips

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 December 2015. 

Sad, beautiful and the wittiest film of the year, it transforms a drab premise of middle-aged malaise into serious pleasure. It is a perfect little tale of love in bloom among the weeds of ordinary life.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-anomalisa-review-20151230-20-story.html)

## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo

Rating A-. 30 December 2015. 

The critic notes that by Kaufman’s high standards the resolution is unusually predictable, but finds Anomalisa beautifully distinctive from moment to moment thanks to the puppets’ human and mechanical imperfections that make it poignantly or nightmarishly effective. They single out its exploration of the knowledge that we are all fundamentally alone.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/charlie-kaufman-works-his-heady-magic-this-time-with-p-1798186112)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic praises the beguiling poignancy and emotional nuance of this funny-sad, haunting meditation on depression, disguised as a melancholy love story. They single out the superb set-piece of the single-night romantic interlude enriched by detailed context and the emotional power that lingers long after the film ends.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/charlie-kaufmans-anomalisa-venice-review-820741/)

## Total Film — Jamie Graham

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 March 2016. 

The critic describes it as Kaufman's most human and recognisable work, showing what it is to be human with the best use of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ in the movies. They highlight the precise observational details of human behaviour and the emotional response elicited by the central connection.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/anomalisa-review/)

## Little White Lies — Sophie Monks Kaufman

Rating 5/4/5. 10 March 2016. 

Praises the melancholic stop-motion treasure for its absolute commitment to depicting solipsistic suffering and the intricate, brilliant portrayal of a lonely man's fleeting connection.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/anomalisa)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2015. Festival review. 

Describes a wistful, resonant film and a bracing, wry, honest dose of cinematic melancholy, focusing on the hotel as an existential staging post and the realistic puppetry including sex scenes.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/anomalisa-review/5092585.article)

## Sight and Sound — Graham Fuller

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 March 2016. 

The critic praises Kaufman's stop-motion film for its unique exploration of alienation and perception through puppets where most characters look and sound the same, highlighting the poignant relationship with Lisa and the film's metaphysical depth.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-anomalisa)

## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2015. 

The critic finds the film initially reductive and literal-minded but praises the aural device of identical voices and visual stylization for simulating the numbness of depression, along with the unexpected tenderness of the central relationship and Lisa’s vividly specific portrayal. They single out the remarkably moving sex scene as the highpoint and the final cruel punchline underscoring that meet-cutes aren’t a cure.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/anomalisa/)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2015. Festival review. 

Kaufman teams with Duke Johnson to bring his stageplay to life in stop-motion, resulting in a cerebral yet satisfying self-analysis. It moves from a dark night of the soul into something warm, human and tender.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/anomalisa-film-review-1201586854/)

## Vulture

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 29 December 2015. 

The critic calls it a perfect thing and the most vivid portrait of solipsism, praising the thrillingly expressive stop-motion animation and the sublime, alchemical sex scene as a feat of transcendence. They single out the complacent misery and self-centered tone that ultimately makes the film feel like undiluted Charlie Kaufman one wants to escape.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2015/12/review-anomalisa-is-pure-dark-charlie-kaufman.html)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 29 December 2015. 

The film shares the obliviousness of its acclaimed protagonist toward others in his life. It depicts a short affair between a business writer and a star-struck fan using realistic stop-motion puppets.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-condescending-compassion-of-charlie-kaufmans-anomalisa)

## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 29 December 2015. 

The sad and stingingly painful film features a throng of whiners and depressives alongside one bright soul. It is a recognizably Kaufmanesque creation exploring identity, loneliness, and love through stop-motion puppets.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/movies/review-anomalisa-pairs-charlie-kaufman-and-lonely-puppets.html)

## NME — Olly Richards

Rating 5/5. 10 March 2016. 

The review calls it another classic from Charlie Kaufman, using stop-motion puppets to explore a man's boredom with identical faces and voices around him until he meets someone different. It singles out the funny yet touching sex scene and strong voice performances for making the artificial feel deeply human and emotional.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-16417-307390)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating A. 30 December 2015. 

The critic praises the film's thoughtful meditation on loneliness and longing for human connection through stop-motion animation and calls it as effective and compelling as any of Kaufman's movies. The review highlights the heartbreaking characters and fresh take on familiar themes.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/anomalisa-review-charlie-kaufman/)

## Polygon — Allegra Frank

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2015. 

The critic calls Anomalisa a devastating portrait of depression through puppets and one of the year's best films, praising its remarkably human story and the stop-motion animation's role in revealing the protagonist's isolated worldview. It highlights the film's triumph as an adult animated work with dramatic potential.

[Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/17/10325780/anomalisa-review/)

## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff

Rating A-. 30 December 2015. 

The review lauds the film's deft balance of spiritual crisis, despondency, awkwardness, and biting hilarity in its stop-motion tale of loneliness and the need for connection, calling it a near-perfect marriage of Kaufman's themes and Johnson's animation.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/anomalisa-review-charlie-kaufman-20151230/)

## Deadline — Pete Hammond

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 December 2015. 

The critic finds the stop-motion film a unique and dreamlike exploration of mundanity and human connection that stays with the viewer. He singles out the raw stop-motion technique, with visible facial lines deliberately retained to match the film's spirit.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2015/12/anomalisa-review-charlie-kaufman-stop-motion-stop-motion-animation-1201671241/)

## The Skinny — Ben Nicholson

Rating ★★★★. 22 February 2016. 

The critic describes the film as a tender, moving account of depression and the search for connection, with puppets that feel lifelike and convey isolation turning to joy. It notes the accessible yet profound take on Kaufman's usual existential style, enhanced by the stop-motion animation.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/cineskinny/reviews/anomalisa)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 13 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic calls the stop-motion film a surprising and delightful meditation on human connection that does not disappoint. He singles out the inventive animated world where only the leads have distinct faces and voices amid the surrealism.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/toronto-charlie-kaufmans-anomalisa-digs-into-human-meaning-with-stop-motion/)

## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic highlights the triumph in smaller gestures and human moments, noting the warm, humanistic vibe and Lisa as a lovely creation, while acknowledging it doesn't reach the heights of Kaufman's prior work on loneliness.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/anomalisa-2015-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)

## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic praises the witty and tender stop-motion animation as an intimate exploration of existential crisis and human connection, highlighting the inventive puppetry and voice work that bring the fuzzy characters to life.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/anomalisa-review/)

## Paste — Tim Grierson

Rating 9.5. 20 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic describes the film as piercingly poignant and perhaps Kaufman's most succinct expression of the malaise haunting his work, praising its honesty in depicting struggles with loneliness alongside humor and empathy. The stop-motion animation is noted for reflecting the director's aesthetic in a purer way.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/anomalisa)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/anomalisa.md