---
title: "Columbus: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/columbus/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/columbus"
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 21
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."
---

# Columbus (2017): what the critics said

Critics' score 82 from 21 reviews: 19 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics warm to Kogonada’s debut, and they warm to it for the same reasons. The praise clusters on the way the film puts the modernist buildings of Columbus, Indiana, at the centre of a friendship rather than behind it, and on Haley Lu Richardson, whose performance is named again and again as the emotional core. John Cho is often mentioned alongside her. The composition and framing draw near-universal admiration, and Ozu is the comparison most reviews reach for.

The reservations are few and mild, and the spread is narrow, with almost every review landing in the same approving range. Where critics hesitate, it is over pace and thinness. Little White Lies finds the final act jarring; Time Out finds the story and performances less polished than the photography; The Wrap, the one plainly cool notice, complains that the minimalism leaves the characters underdeveloped. Nobody disputes that the film is carefully made. The question the dissenters raise is whether the care carries the story.

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2018. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/05/columbus-review-kogonada-john-cho)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Boyd van Hoeij

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2017. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/columbus-968301/)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 June 2017. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/19/the-precocious-genius-of-columbus)

## The Times — Kevin Maher

Rating ★★★★☆. 5 October 2018. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/film-review-columbus-pr0xcxfkl)

## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. 

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.

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

## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2018. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/ff95e014-c70f-11e8-ba8f-ee390057b8c9)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-columbus-review-20170803-story.html)

## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong

Rating 3/4/3. 8 October 2018. 

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.

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

## Radio Times — Calum Baker

Rating 4/5. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-c65j1x/columbus/)

## Sight and Sound — Ben Nicholson

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2018. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-columbus-artfully-balances-pair-opposites)

## Variety — Geoff Berkshire

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2017. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/columbus-review-sundance-john-cho-1201971998/)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2017. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/columbus-rotterdam-review/5114306.article)

## The New York Times — Ben Kenigsberg

Rating Critic’s Pick. 3 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/movies/columbus-review.html)

## Time Out — Dave Calhoun

Rating 3/5. 27 September 2018. 

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.

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

## The Skinny — Josh Slater-Williams

Rating ★★★★★. 13 October 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/columbus-john-cho-kogonada-review)

## Paste — Andy Crump

Rating 8.9. 7 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/article/columbus)

## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2017. Festival review. 

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.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/rotterdam-review-supercut-superstar-kogonadas-shimmering-debut-columbus-haley-lu-richardson-john-cho-parker-posey-rory-culkin-20170130/)

## Consequence

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://consequence.net/2017/08/film-review-columbus/)

## Collider — Brian Formo

Rating B+. 2 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/columbus-review-john-cho/)

## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/columbus-2017-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 45/100 (inferred from the text). 4 August 2017. 

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.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/columbus-review-john-cho/)

---
© 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/columbus.md