Columbus (2017)

The architecture is the star in this absorbing debut where Kogonada creates an engrossing and unexpectedly passionate film about feelings displaced into space and building materials. Haley Lu Richardson is outstanding as the young architecture buff who forms a friendship with John Cho's character.

The critic calls it a soft-spoken and perceptive art-house treat that announces a new director blending small-scale Ozu-like humanism with impressive formalist command of film. Architecture is singled out as the key third ingredient that elevates the character drama into unexpected territory.

Brody celebrates the film’s intellectual coming-of-age story centered on a young woman’s passionate engagement with Columbus, Indiana’s architectural treasures and her friendship with a visitor. He singles out Haley Lu Richardson’s performance for its emotional and intellectual acuity alongside Kogonada’s analytical visual approach.

Brainy and sensual, this wildly impressive feature debut is a coming-of-age drama that consistently defies expectation and is built on an indecently charismatic performance from Haley Lu Richardson. It is impeccably filmed with geometric precision.

The critic praises Kogonada’s debut as a strikingly distinctive and mature American film that celebrates architecture’s emotional power and everyday wonder through restrained, cerebral storytelling. It singles out Haley Lu Richardson’s radiant, rapturous performance as a highlight of intellectual and aesthetic passion.

Columbus is an absolute charmer whose absolutism is its strength as Kogonada places the modernist buildings of the Indiana town before us and tests the characters’ responses to the artistic verities posed. The framings are uncannily beautiful and the dialogue a wonder.

Chang describes the film as a sensitively attuned debut that links visual form with emotional depth through characters navigating personal ambitions and family ties amid the city’s modernist buildings. He praises the lead performances and the way architecture charges the interactions with meaning.

This absorbing debut explores the relationship between people and spaces in Columbus, Indiana, with strong performances from John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson. The visuals are the real strength, though the slow pace and slightly jarring narrative in the final act hold it back.

This dreamy, low-key drama makes wonderful use of Columbus's striking modernist buildings through the bond between John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson. Kogonada crafts a pleasant aesthetic while ensuring the characters' humanity shines through.

Kogonada's debut is a meticulously composed coming-of-age story with romantic overtones and intergenerational conflict that recalls Ozu. The film's formal elegance and visual tension around architecture emerge as profoundly affecting elements about family and friendship.

The review hails the assured, hypnotic debut for treating architecture like music in conversations between the leads and for its gorgeous, meticulously composed filmmaking. It singles out the strong ensemble performances, especially John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson, and the film’s warmth and humanity.

Kogonada brings an idiosyncratic sensibility to this small-town coming-of-age story set against Columbus, Indiana's modernist architecture, creating a nuanced study of people, space and consciousness. Superb ensemble acting and keen intelligence deliver low-key emotional impact despite its rarefied appeal.

The critic praises Kogonada’s confident debut for using the modernist architecture of Columbus, Indiana, as a springboard for exploring generational themes and characters’ connections to place and ideas. It highlights the Ozu-influenced style and strong performances by Haley Lu Richardson and John Cho.

Kogonada's first feature offers brooding atmosphere and striking visuals of modernist architecture, evoking Lost in Translation. The story and performances feel less polished than the photography, though it shows promise.

The review calls the film a masterful, subtle and deeply humanist debut that blends conversational intimacy in the vein of Linklater with Ozu-like family themes, all framed by striking modernist architecture. It singles out Haley Lu Richardson’s revelatory performance as the emotional core conveying passion and curiosity.

Kogonada's feature debut is a quiet, graceful tone poem about family duty and personal uncertainty set against striking modernist architecture. Haley Lu Richardson's towering performance anchors the film and supplies its aching humanity.

The critic hails the film as a shimmering, graceful debut overflowing with compassion and natural performances that link modernist architecture appreciation to human connection. She singles out the revelatory work from John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson in drawing an asymmetric yet harmonious friendship.

This restrained debut understands the romantic appeal of intellect and human connection through subtle longing and philosophical conversations. Its seamless blend of meticulous visuals and authentic character work creates an arresting portrait of the Midwest and the need for emotional honesty.

The film is a visually meticulous directorial debut that uses architecture as both setting and metaphor for emotional detachment and personal growth. Haley Lu Richardson delivers a revelatory performance that gives the story its emotional core and elevates the sparse narrative.

The critic finds Kogonada's debut a thoughtful, balanced character study of two people forming a connection in Columbus, Indiana. She singles out the film's careful framing and rhythmic editing that create a soothing poise mirroring the modernist architecture.

The film is a low-key character study in which two strangers bond over modernist architecture in Columbus, Indiana, but it skimps on emotional and narrative details. The critic praises the performances and quiet moments of connection but complains that the minimalist approach leaves characters and relationships underdeveloped.