---
title: "First Man: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/first-man/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/first-man"
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 27
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."
---

# First Man (2018): what the critics said

Critics' score 77 from 27 reviews: 25 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to First Man’s sober, intimate account of Armstrong and the space race. Praise centres on the claustrophobic flight sequences, with sound, cinematography and editing making the machinery feel precarious and the danger immediate. Gosling’s restraint and Foy’s portrayal of shared grief draw frequent approval. The reviews also welcome Chazelle’s attention to personal sacrifice and his avoidance of patriotic self-congratulation.

Reservations concern the emotional distance of the central character, slow stretches between missions and supporting relationships that receive too little attention. The spread is wide despite the strongly positive majority: some critics find the grief moving, while others think the film presses it too insistently. The New York Times finds Armstrong’s inner life elusive despite the strong performances; The New Yorker goes further, arguing that the emphasis on repression and sentimentality misrepresents his modesty. Even these dissenters acknowledge the convincing depiction of technical detail or danger.

## Empire — John Nugent

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 September 2018. 

The film is a serious, dour study of obsession and ambition that marks a giant leap in Chazelle's cinematic scope. It succeeds through immersive craft, visceral sequences and intimate focus on Armstrong's personal sacrifices, with Gosling and Foy excelling.

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

## Sight and Sound — John Bleasdale

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 August 2018. Festival review. 

The critic praises Chazelle’s elegant, intimate approach that makes the familiar Moon landing story feel fresh, highlighting Gosling’s mature performance as Armstrong and the film’s focus on personal grief alongside technical peril.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/first-man-first-look-elegant-intimate-epic-about-moon-landing)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 August 2018. Festival review. 

Praises the sober, contemplative picture for its emotional involvement, visceral tension, suspense, and stunning technical craft. Singles out the film's refusal to engage in expected jingoistic self-celebration.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/first-man-venice-2018-1138214/)

## The Times — Kevin Maher

Rating ★★★★☆. 12 October 2018. 

The critic calls it a full-bodied space weepie that reconstitutes Armstrong as a man riven with grief, delivering a visually exquisite period drama with an emotional payoff. They single out the ending's image of parental grief as a perfect apotheosis.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/film-review-first-man-f6b0699zr)

## Vulture — David Edelstein

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2018. Festival review. 

Describes it as laborious yet stupendous, the most grounded space movie ever made. Singles out the intimate focus on family tensions and the exultant silence of the lunar landing.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/first-man-review-a-laborious-stupendous-space-movie.html)

## IndieWire — Michael Nordine

Rating B+. 29 August 2018. Festival review. 

Calls it a thrilling Neil Armstrong biopic that meets sky-high expectations. Highlights the right stuff in Chazelle and Gosling's collaboration.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/first-man-review-ryan-gosling-damien-chazelle-venice-1201998370/)

## Radio Times — Terry Staunton

Rating ★★★★. 8 October 2018. 

Gosling and Foy deliver magnificent performances in Chazelle’s elegantly drawn, intimate portrait that humanizes Armstrong’s motivations and the couple’s shared grief while balancing personal drama with tense space sequences.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/first-man-review-gosling-and-foy-are-magnificent-in-an-elegantly-drawn-portrait-of-the-star-voyager-who-took-that-one-small-step/)

## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf

Rating 4/5. 11 September 2018. 

Chazelle transforms the lunar landing into breathtaking visual poetry through Armstrong’s stoic reserve and internalized grief, creating a provocative statement about pursuing excellence and big dreams rather than flag-waving spectacle.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/first-man)

## Total Film

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2018. 

Chazelle delivers a buttoned-down but authentic account of the space race and Armstrong's story. The blend of kitchen-sink drama and science fact is ambitious and artful, leaving viewers in awe despite its sombre tone.

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

## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd

Rating B. 19 October 2018. 

Notes the film's ambivalence toward American ambition and the space program, praising its portrayal of determination alongside the human costs. Singles out the chilling scene where Armstrong prepares his children for possible death.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/neither-right-nor-left-wing-first-man-plants-its-flag-1829853311)

## Slant Magazine — Paul O'Callaghan

Rating 3/4. 2 September 2018. 

Praises the tactile action set pieces that highlight the perils of the space race and the un-jingoistic appraisal. Complains about the script's over-fixation on the death of Armstrong's daughter.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/first-man/)

## Evening Standard — Matthew Norman

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2018. 

The film is deliberately gruelling and claustrophobic, succeeding brilliantly at conveying the visceral experience of space flight but struggling to engage the heart. It commands admiration more than love through its technical achievements and focus on Armstrong's reserve.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/first-man-review-ryan-goslings-biopic-finds-the-dark-side-of-neil-armstrong-a3960206.html)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 2018. 

The lunar landing sequence is a sublime, technically masterful highlight that evokes awe through visuals and sound design. The film is an idiosyncratic, viscerally intense portrait that thrills and moves through its focus on rupture, sacrifice, and one man's quiet reckoning, though it sometimes over-insists on emotional undercurrents.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-first-man-review-20181009-story.html)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 August 2018. Festival review. 

A beautifully made film with an impeccable lead performance from Gosling, though it takes elegant flight but stalls in its extended closing sequences and neglects fuller development of supporting characters.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/first-man-venice-review/5132087.article)

## The Guardian — Mark Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 October 2018. 

The critic describes the film as a sombre, low-key study of grief that turns the space adventure into a moving tale of loss and peril. They single out the empathetic performance by Claire Foy and the technical choices that evoke claustrophobia and isolation.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/oct/14/first-man-review-damien-chazelle-ryan-gosling-claire-foy-apollo-11-neil-armstrong)

## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2018. 

The film captures the otherness and risks of the Apollo missions effectively but fails to convey Neil Armstrong's Midwestern modesty, instead imposing modern emotional repression and sentimentality on him. Gosling's casting and the emphasis on personal grief undermine the historical authenticity of the stoic hero.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/damien-chazelles-moon-shot-in-first-man)

## The New York Times — A.O. Scott

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 10 October 2018. 

The critic finds the film a careful, earthbound character study that gets technical details right but falls short of deeper grandeur or meaning. It portrays Armstrong as an enigmatic, diffident figure whose inner life remains elusive despite strong performances.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/movies/first-man-review-ryan-gosling-damien-chazelle.html)

## HeyUGuys — Linda Marric

Rating 5/5. 27 September 2018. 

The critic praises Chazelle's immersive character study of Neil Armstrong's quiet determination amid personal tragedy and the space race, highlighting Gosling and Foy's performances along with Sandgren's evocative cinematography.

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

## Deadline — Pete Hammond

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 October 2018. 

The critic praises Chazelle's versatile direction in tackling the story of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission. Gosling delivers a restrained, authentic performance that brings emotional depth to the otherwise sober film, supported by strong technical credits.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/2018/10/first-man-review-damien-chazelle-ryan-gosling-neil-armstrong-movie-video-1202478825/)

## Eye for Film — Andrew Robertson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 October 2018. 

The review emphasizes the film's focus on grief, loneliness, and technical precision in depicting spaceflight, commending the direction, sound design, editing, and performances by Gosling and Foy as a compelling portrait beyond mere rockets.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/first-man-2018-film-review-by-andrew-robertson)

## The Ringer — Sean Fennessey

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 2018. 

The review highlights the film's technical magnificence and quiet, restrained approach to portraying Neil Armstrong's stoic dedication, contrasting it with more bombastic space films.

[Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2018/10/11/movies/first-man-ryan-gosling-damien-chazelle-neil-armstrong-nasa-claire-foy-apollo-missions)

## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang

Rating B+. 29 August 2018. Festival review. 

The critic lauds the film's immaculate craftsmanship, immersive recreation of the Apollo mission, and Chazelle's command of technique as a grand, classic epic that becomes the definitive moon-landing movie despite its reserved central figure.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/damien-chazelle-first-man-venice-review-20180829/)

## Den of Geek — Simon Reynolds

Rating 4/5. 25 September 2018. 

The critic finds it a gripping account of the moon landing that emphasizes the brutal endurance test of space travel and the personal costs, praising the intense practical effects and performances especially Claire Foy, but notes the central character remains enigmatic.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/first-man-review-giant-leap-or-outer-space-stumble/)

## Polygon — Matt Patches

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 2018. 

The film is an immersive, nerve-wracking simulation of spaceflight that excels in its technical and visceral depiction of missions but falters in its handling of the protagonist's personal relationships.

[Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/11/17964478/first-man-review/)

## The Wrap — Alonso Duralde

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 October 2018. Festival review. 

The critic calls the film a haunting, thrilling space saga that reminds viewers of the risks and chaos involved in the moon landing. It stands out for its intimate portrait of Armstrong, visceral depiction of space travel, and impressive technical achievements.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/first-man-film-review-ryan-gosling-damien-chazelle/)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating B. 12 October 2018. 

The critic praises the film's immersive portrayal of the dangers and details of space missions but criticizes the distant portrayal of Neil Armstrong himself.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/first-man-review/)

## /Film — Chris Evangelista

Rating 7/10. 10 September 2018. Festival review. 

The review notes strong performances and stunning moon-landing sequences but finds the old-fashioned drama often inert and slow between set pieces, making it a mixed but worthwhile watch.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/560869/first-man-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/first-man.md