--- title: "Blue Is the Warmest Color: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/blue-is-the-warmest-color/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/blue-is-the-warmest-color" critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 17 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." --- # Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013): what the critics said Critics' score 86 from 17 reviews: 16 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to this detailed account of first love, with praise centred on the lead performances, especially Adèle Exarchopoulos’s expressive, vulnerable portrayal. The reviews repeatedly credit Kechiche’s attention to ordinary life and the women’s emotional exchanges with making the relationship feel convincing. For many, that accumulation of character and everyday detail sustains the three-hour running time and gives the romance its force. The disagreement centres on the explicit sex scenes: some critics see an unusually frank treatment of desire, while others find them over-extended or question whose desires they serve. Film Comment challenges the director’s male gaze, while Sight and Sound argues that his approach loses the source graphic novel’s distinctive voice and politics, despite Exarchopoulos’s performance. The consensus is strongly favourable, but these objections go beyond pacing or explicitness to question how the film looks at its central characters. ## Little White Lies — Sophie Monks Kaufman Rating 5/5/4. 21 November 2013. Kechiche’s passionate lesbian love story is a screen romance built for the long haul with universal themes. Three hours fly by thanks to the committed performance of Adèle Exarchopoulos in this comprehensive and heartfelt depiction. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/blue-is-the-warmest-colour) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Rating 4/4. 21 September 2013. Kechiche builds the film with sensitivity to emotional nuance and collaboration with the remarkable actresses, capturing the electric connectivity between the two women. The experience resonates universally with anyone who has loved and faced its loss. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/blue-is-the-warmest-color/) ## Time Out — Guy Lodge Rating 5/5. 22 May 2013. Festival review. It is a minutely detailed, searingly erotic three-hour study of first lesbian love that is the richest film of Kechiche’s career. The freewheeling perspective on young desire finds nuanced drama in maintaining an unfixed sexuality beyond coming-out tropes. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/blue-is-the-warmest-colour) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating A-. 24 October 2013. The beauty of the film lies in dropping viewers onto the emotional wavelength of its heroine through her expressive performance. It is at heart an ordinary coming-of-age romance but benefits from a wealth of character and environment building rather than clichés. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/blue-is-the-warmest-color-1798178429) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2013. The critic calls the film outstanding and passionately praises its evocation of love as cataclysmic and unforgettable. The lead performances are singled out as making other acting look weak. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/21/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-review) ## Vulture — David Edelstein Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 2013. It is unlike any love story seen before, with raw, off-beat exchanges and an overwhelming emotional intensity over three hours. The performances convey the cost and vulnerability of putting oneself out there in a relationship. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/10/movie-review-blue-is-the-warmest-color.html) ## Financial Times — Antonia Quirke Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2013. The critic finds the film very good and touching, praising its focus on young love and the central performance of Adèle Exarchopoulos for demonstrating how love feels. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/86a0b1cc-52af-11e3-8586-00144feabdc0) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 May 2013. Festival review. The review highlights the film's rich detail and compassionate meditation on love and loss, praising the lead performance and the immersive quality that makes the three-hour length feel engaging. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/cannes-review-blue-is-the-warmest-colour-lrskf3j3htk) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2013. The review describes the film as mostly tremendous and unmissable, anchored by fiercely committed performances, while noting its explicit elements and some reservations. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10465082/Blue-is-the-Warmest-Colour-review.html) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 March 2015. The review notes the film's graphic sex scenes as stirring yet over-extended, while praising the second half for its emotional depth and the lead performances, especially Exarchopoulos's vulnerable portrayal. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-film-review-8956193.html) ## Film Comment — Amy Taubin Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2013. Festival review. The critic discusses the Palme d'Or winner as a coming-of-age lesbian love story but focuses heavily on controversies around its graphic sex scenes and questions the director's male gaze approach to the material. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/cannes-2013-amy-taubin/) ## Empire — Ian Freer 29 October 2013. The critic describes the film as one of cinema’s most realistic coming-of-age stories and the most moving love story of the year, anchored by natural and committed performances from the leads. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/blue-warmest-colour-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey 25 October 2013. The story traces the full life cycle of a relationship between two women over ten years, emphasizing that sex without love is nothing and life without love is even less. It highlights the exceptional performances of the leads as near-perfect and the film's intimate, elemental look at vulnerability. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-blue-warmest-color-review-20131025-story.html) ## Screen Daily 23 May 2013. Festival review. Kechiche hits emotional paydirt with a story spanning several years focusing on a passionate lesbian romance that breaks new ground in uninhibited depiction of sex. The performances are terrific and give the impression of delivering a close approximation of undiluted reality. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/adele-chapters-1-and-2/5056696.article) ## Sight and Sound — Sophie Mayer 25 November 2013. The film trades the graphic novel's new voice and political implications for the same old male gaze. It praises the central performance of astounding stamina by Adèle Exarchopoulos while noting the story's split into two halves. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/review-blue-warmest-colour) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jordan Mintzer 22 May 2013. Festival review. The film is a passionate, poignantly handled love story held together by phenomenal turns from the two leads despite its long running time. It explores class differences and the difficulties of sustaining a relationship beyond initial passion. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/blue-is-warmest-color-cannes-527347/) ## The Independent Rating *****. 13 March 2014. The critic praises Adèle Exarchopoulos as a revelation in her role as a sexually awakened teenager and highlights the film's authentic exploration of modern love, calling it intensely moving and richly detailed. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/dvd-bluray-reviews-blue-is-the-warmest-colour-the-hunger-games-catching-fire-inside-no-9-escape-plan-bill-ted-s-excellent-adventure-25th-anniversary-9189539.html) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane 28 October 2013. The three-hour character study follows a high-school student's romantic and emotional journey over several years with an older woman. It singles out the film's focus on everyday life, including time in the classroom and kitchen, over the bedroom scenes, and its affecting portrait of longing. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/28/new-love) ## Total Film — Emma Simmonds 16 November 2013. The review calls the film fearless, relatable and beautiful, bestowing epic status on female desire through its intimate close-ups and emotional depth, making it one of the year’s best. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-review/) ## Variety — Justin Chang 22 May 2013. Festival review. The film is a searingly intimate character study of a French teenager's passionate relationship, marked by explosively graphic lesbian sex scenes and an extreme running time. It praises the galvanizing performances of the leads and the director's raw, sensual approach to life. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/cannes-film-review-blue-is-the-warmest-color-1200486043/) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Rating 5/5. 20 November 2013. The review hails Adèle Exarchopoulos's stunning lead performance as the core of this epic romance about desire and first love, noting how the film powerfully captures the dizzying thrill of young passion despite its length and explicit scenes. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a529191/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-review-adle-exarchopoulos-is-simply-stunning/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A. 23 May 2013. Festival review. The film delivers the most transportative, truthful and sublime movie experience at Cannes, submerging the viewer in the story of a defining first love with unmatched insightfulness and empathy. Exarchopoulos and Seydoux deliver revelatory performances that erase barriers between audience and character in this absolute cinema achievement. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-masterful-blue-is-the-warmest-color-is-the-sublime-story-of-a-transformative-relationship-20130523/) ## HeyUGuys — Craig Skinner Rating 4.5/5. 28 May 2013. Festival review. The film is an intimate and intense emotional epic that banishes negative connotations of the coming-of-age drama label through its portrayal of a transformative relationship. Committed lead performances, nuanced filmmaking and epic scope make for something extraordinary. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2013-blue-is-the-warmest-colour-la-vie-dadele-review/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 16 September 2013. Kechiche's vivid film is a commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment that contrasts sharply with Hollywood fare through its attention to everyday details like eating and drinking. The intimate, explicit love scenes and close focus on the lead actresses' expressive faces create a revelatory portrait of love and social difference. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/blue-is-the-warmest-colour-2013-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating B+. 25 October 2013. The critic praises the film's intimate portrayal of a young woman's emotional journey in love, highlighting Adèle Exarchopoulos's heartbreaking performance as the standout element that anchors the lengthy narrative. [Read the review](https://collider.com/blue-is-warmest-color-review/) ## The Skinny — Philip Concannon Rating ★★★★. 15 November 2013. The critic credits the lead actresses' astonishing performances for holding together this sprawling three-hour relationship drama, praising its vivid sense of real life, emotional intimacy and unpredictable messiness akin to being in love. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/blue-is-the-warmest-colour) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 9.0. 24 May 2013. Festival review. The critic calls it a beautiful, wise, erotic, devastating love story that justifies its length by fully depicting the growth and changes in a relationship over years, singling out the exceptional performances of the two leads for praise. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/blue-is-the-warmest-color-2013-cannes-review) --- © 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/blue-is-the-warmest-color.md