Critics’ reviews

Here (2024)

22 reviews from 22 publications. Critics’ score 42: 2 positive, 5 mixed, 6 negative.

Back to our review of Here

42
Positive
2
Mixed
5
Negative
6
Little White Lies
16 January 2025 · 3/3/2 · David Jenkins
60

The critic views it as a conceptually intriguing but ultimately contrived folly that fails to land emotionally despite Zemeckis's ambition. It singles out the heavy-handed sentimentality and uncanny valley effects for complaint.

Read the full review →
The AV Club
31 October 2024 · C
57

The critic views the film as an ambitious but undercooked experiment in non-linear storytelling that becomes simplistic and caged by clichés, lacking the source material's elegance or irony.

Read the full review →
Film Comment
18 November 2024 · Genevieve Yue
40*

The critic finds the film's fixed-camera, time-portal conceit compelling and technically dazzling but deems the story thin and solipsistic, with history reduced to set dressing around an ordinary hero's personal life.

Read the full review →
Slant Magazine
28 October 2024 · ★½/4
38

The critic deems it a mawkish high-concept misfire that flattens drama through fragmented editing and broad-stroke presentation, feeling fake and over-manicured.

Read the full review →
The Telegraph
16 January 2025 · ★ · Tim Robey
20

The review condemns the film as a disastrous, garish tomb and an insult to being alive, criticizing the forced main characters, crude handling of history, cringey de-ageing, and gooey schmaltz that turns the fixed-camera concept into purgatory.

Read the full review →
Vulture
31 October 2024
20*

The critic calls it the biggest pile of schmaltz of the year, with the fixed-point gimmick in service of sentimental nostalgia that fails to develop characters meaningfully.

Read the full review →
The Times
17 January 2025 · Kevin Maher
10*

The critic describes it as an extraordinary mess and pointless film like watching the Sims get dementia, with every decision cataclysmic, absurd de-ageing, banal stories, and a saccharine intent undermined by cruelty and emptiness.

Read the full review →
Empire
17 January 2025 · Laura Venning

The critic finds the film a deeply flawed, tech-forward endeavour with an uncinematic static-camera conceit and thuddingly obvious dialogue that prompts laughter. Glimmers of human emotion and poignancy emerge in the final act from the lead performances, especially Robin Wright.

Read the full review →
IndieWire
26 October 2024 · festival review · Ryan Lattanzio

The critic sees it as an earnest Forrest Gump reunion experiment spanning lifetimes from one spot, rueing time lost and gained while noting the de-aging and fixed perspective.

Read the full review →
Los Angeles Times
31 October 2024 · Katie Walsh

The critic finds the fixed-camera intergenerational drama to be a pointless, treacly exercise that flattens its Forrest Gump reunion into faux-cosmic tedium with little emotional depth. The stationary vantage point and time-jumping narrative are highlighted as the central gimmick that fails to deliver insight or resonance.

Read the full review →
Radio Times
★★☆☆☆

The critic sees the film as a heavy-handed Forrest Gump reunion that lands with deadening thuds despite its ambitions on time and history. It singles out the de-aging effects and overly premeditated formal conceits for complaint while noting the score and lead performances as occasional highlights.

Read the full review →
Screen Daily
26 October 2024

The critic finds lyrical moments undermined by Zemeckis’s lack of restraint and questionable narrative choices in this ambitious study of lives across time. It singles out the fixed-camera perspective over a century for its potential but notes the execution undoes the moving intent.

Read the full review →
Sight and Sound
15 January 2025 · Guy Lodge

The critic finds the film a gimmicky, overly sentimental and effects-heavy experiment that prioritizes digital fakery over genuine emotion. It singles out the uncanny de-aging of Hanks and Wright and the treacly coda for complaint while noting the fixed-camera conceit from the graphic novel source.

Read the full review →
The Guardian
29 October 2024

The critic calls the film an eerie and embarrassing misfire, an ugly de-aged nightmare that is unforgivably dull as it follows the same house through time with banal snippets of history and lifeless sentimentality.

Read the full review →
The Hollywood Reporter
25 October 2024 · festival review · David Rooney

The critic finds the fixed-camera experiment technically mesmerizing at first but ultimately inert, with a banal story and underdeveloped characters that prioritize visual gimmicks over emotional depth.

Read the full review →
The New York Times
31 October 2024 · Amy Nicholson

The critic views the film as an experimental but ultimately regret-filled collage spanning billions of years from a fixed camera position, focusing on one family's disappointments rather than triumphs. The static lens and epic scope are singled out as the core formal experiment, though the narrative emphasizes duty and missed opportunities over adventure.

Read the full review →
Deadline
26 October 2024 · festival review · Pete Hammond
70*

The critic finds it a noble experiment and a welcome dose of originality, though it doesn’t quite work on every level. He singles out the emotional pull by the end, the performances of Hanks and Wright, and the innovative use of panels with a fixed camera.

Read the full review →
Eye for Film
11 December 2024 · ★★★½ · Nikola Jovic
70

The critic praises Zemeckis for using the fixed perspective and time-spanning narrative to deliver a thesis on his career and explore experimental territory. It is seen as a high-ambition mainstream experiment on the passage of time, regrets, and perseverance despite technical hurdles.

Read the full review →
Collider
31 October 2024 · 6/10 · Ross Bonaime
60

The film is an ambitious but messy experiment that occasionally delivers heartfelt moments about family and time passing, yet feels more like an interesting gimmick than a fully realized story. The critic praises the scope and the performances of Hanks, Wright, and Bettany in the central family arc while criticizing the sprawling narrative, on-the-nose moments, and distracting secondary stories.

Read the full review →
/Film
29 October 2024 · 5/10 · Chris Evangelista
50

The critic views the film as an interesting experiment gone wrong. The fixed-camera concept and Forrest Gump reunion are undermined by distracting de-aging, artificial staging, and an overly bleak tone that smothers any warmth.

Read the full review →
Film Stories
19 March 2025 · Ryan Lambie
50*

The critic calls the film a flawed but bold departure that experiments with a fixed camera and time-hopping in ways most movies avoid. The execution distances viewers from the drama through short vignettes, digital effects, and de-aging that create an uncanny valley feel.

Read the full review →
The Wrap
26 October 2024 · festival review
30*

The critic calls it a mawkish intergenerational drama that amounts to little more than a high-tech museum diorama. He singles out the underwhelming visual effects outside the main storyline, the shallow narrative, and the limited innovation in the panel technique despite the ambitious concept.

Read the full review →

Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate