---
title: "If Beale Street Could Talk: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/if-beale-street-could-talk/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/if-beale-street-could-talk"
critics_score: 83
critics_reviews: 32
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."
---

# If Beale Street Could Talk (2018): what the critics said

Critics' score 83 from 32 reviews: 28 positive, 4 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics warmly endorse Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of James Baldwin, praising its tender account of Black love and family alongside its anger at institutional racism. The reviews repeatedly single out the cinematography’s warm colours and expressive close-ups, as well as the score. Praise for the ensemble is widespread, with Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry drawing particular attention. For most critics, the romantic treatment gives the injustice greater emotional force without diminishing the characters’ everyday lives.

Reservations concern pace, cohesion and how successfully Baldwin’s prose becomes screen drama. The spread runs from enthusiastic approval to a small mixed minority, with no wholly negative assessments. Sight and Sound admires individual scenes but finds the unvarying tempo monotonous. Collider praises the craft and performances while finding the romance and social critique poorly joined. Elsewhere, doubts about narration and excessive polish suggest that the qualities which move most critics leave some at a distance.

## Little White Lies — Tayler Montague

Rating 5/5/5. 5 February 2019. 

The review praises the film's intense melancholy and blissful romance masking political outrage, highlighting its authentic depiction of Black love, family, and community as a powerful, rhapsodic adaptation.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/if-beale-street-could-talk)

## Radio Times

Rating ★★★★★. 4 February 2019. 

An achingly romantic but hard-centred slice of life, beautifully shot with deep emotional resonance, idealised yet effective in depicting love and institutional racism.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-an-achingly-romantic-but-hard-centred-slice-of-life/)

## Film Comment — Michael Koresky

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

The critic praises Jenkins' gorgeously sculpted imagery and patient, expressive use of shadow, light, and color in this TIFF festival screening. They highlight the film's tender depiction of romance and love alongside its acknowledgment of painful historical realities.

[Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/festivals-toronto-2018/)

## IndieWire — Eric Kohn

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2018. Festival review. 

Barry Jenkins crafts a masterful, poetic romance adapting Baldwin's novel with fidelity and emotional depth. The review highlights the film's romantic focus and strong central performances following Moonlight.

[Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-barry-jenkins-james-baldwin-1202002446/)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 2018. 

Jenkins delivers a gorgeous, radically empathetic follow-up to Moonlight with lush visuals and performances that affirm kindness and love against oppression. The critic highlights the film's expressionist beauty and its generous embrace of its characters.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-if-beale-street-could-talk-review-20181213-story.html)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2018. Festival review. 

A profoundly moving exploration of romance, family and racism that is a stirring, absorbing experience articulating something ineffable about everyday life.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/if-beale-street-could-talk-toronto-review/5132492.article)

## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2018. Festival review. 

Barry Jenkins delivers a lush, emotionally intense adaptation of James Baldwin's novel focused on a young Harlem couple facing injustice. The critic praises the film's visual beauty, strong performances, and themes of love and resilience amid despair.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/beale-street-could-talk-review-tiff-2018-1141601/)

## The Times — Kevin Maher

Rating ★★★★☆. 8 February 2019. 

The film is a wonderful, delicate thunderclap of a love story that floats like a butterfly before stinging like a bee, with note-perfect performances and a wistful yet desolate mood. The critic highlights Jenkins' elegant film-making and the Oscar-nominated score.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-fr7c6xwhs)

## Slant Magazine

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

Jenkins's superb adaptation captures human frailty and injustice elliptically while celebrating endurance and imaginative expression. The film harmonizes rage and hope in its conclusion, faithful to Baldwin.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/if-beale-street-could-talk/)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 14 December 2018. 

Jenkins combines drama with analytical elements to expose white supremacy in the legal system while centering a rapturous love story between Tish and Fonny. The film powerfully links personal intimacy with political consciousness through its memory structure and physical imagery.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-politics-of-memory-in-barry-jenkinss-if-beale-street-could-talk)

## Total Film

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 15 January 2019. 

The film is a superlative slice of ’70s social realism and another beautifully played, gorgeously photographed snapshot of the African-American experience. The critic singles out the ravishing soft-focus cinematography and strong ensemble performances, especially Regina King, while noting a minor misstep with one cameo.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/if-beale-street-could-talk-review/)

## The AV Club

Rating B+. 12 September 2018. Festival review. 

Jenkins follows Moonlight with a rich, tragic study of black American life through a literary adaptation. The film reaches further than its predecessor but lacks some of its expressive power and simplicity.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/moonlight-was-no-fluke-1828988111)

## Empire — Helen O'Hara

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 4 February 2019. 

Barry Jenkins delivers a luminous, sweepingly romantic polemic that is powerful but not self-righteous. The critic praises the elegant direction, golden cinematography and the way the film humanises its characters while showing the effects of systemic racism.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/beale-street-talk-review/)

## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen

Rating 4/5. 6 November 2018. 

Jenkins delivers a faithful, beautifully crafted adaptation full of tenderness and fire, celebrating African-American family life while confronting racial injustice head-on.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk)

## Vulture

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 14 December 2018. 

Barry Jenkins cements his style in this lush romantic adaptation of Baldwin, blending seductive visuals with grim realism beneath. The film is overripe yet heady, emphasizing love amid injustice and melancholy.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2018/09/if-beale-street-could-talk-has-romance-despair.html)

## Evening Standard — Matthew Norman

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 25 February 2019. 

Jenkins creates a poetic film that takes the viewer deep into the grim truth of the black American experience with elegiac melancholy. The critic highlights the gorgeous brown-and-gold cinematography and the way dignity prevails amid injustice.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-a-poetic-film-about-the-grim-truth-of-the-black-american-experience-a4061221.html)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 6 February 2019. 

The critic praises the film's beauty, dignity and intelligence as a heartfelt adaptation of James Baldwin's novel about injustice and love in 1970s New York. They note it has moral seriousness and artistry but falls a bit short of Moonlight in passion and cohesion.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/06/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-barry-jenkins-kiki-layne-stephan-james)

## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis

Rating Critic's Pick. 12 December 2018. 

The critic finds the film anguished and mournful yet intimate, with characters' direct gazes creating tenderness that softens a world of racial injustice. Jenkins adapts Baldwin's novel with a focus on love and resilience amid systemic oppression.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk-review.html)

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2018. Festival review. 

Jenkins brings a colorful, idealistic eye to Baldwin's novel about a young couple separated by false arrest, elevating social realism with poetic humanism. The film maintains the characters' belief in love amid systemic injustice, using non-linear structure and archival imagery effectively.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-1202934489/)

## Sight and Sound — Nick Pinkerton

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 7 February 2019. 

The critic finds the film a lovingly observed but wilfully slow story of thwarted romance, praising its marvellous moments and vignettes of black working-class life while complaining of monotony from the unvarying tempo.

[Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-thwarted-romance-slow-motion)

## Den of Geek — Mark Harrison

Rating 5/5. 5 February 2019. 

Jenkins has followed Moonlight with another masterpiece, an empathetic love story about soulmates divided by injustice. The critic singles out the powerful wordless sequences, strong performances (especially Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry), and the film's tender yet profound handling of personal tragedy.

[Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-operatic-intimate-and-passionate/)

## HeyUGuys — Adam Solomons

Rating 5/5. 26 September 2018. Festival review. 

Barry Jenkins’ muted social drama is a stunning slow-burner that will stick in your mind and heart long after the credits roll. It lacks the scope of Moonlight but finds remarkable poise and humanity in its story of powerlessness and quiet resilience.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/if-beale-street-could-talk-review/)

## The Skinny — Philip Concannon

Rating ★★★★★. 6 February 2019. 

Jenkins beautifully captures the romantic, yearning, angry, and incisive tones of Baldwin’s voice in a visually rhapsodic experience. The critic highlights the standout performance by Brian Tyree Henry and calls the film a triumph about boundless love in the face of hatred and injustice.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/if-beale-street-could-talk)

## Consequence

Rating A. 10 December 2018. Festival review. 

Barry Jenkins delivers another grand achievement with this adaptation, a complex and awe-inspiring portrait of black love and survival in 1970s America. It singles out the uniformly excellent cast, especially KiKi Layne and Regina King, along with the gorgeous visuals and sweeping score for praise.

[Read the review](https://consequence.net/2018/12/film-review-if-beale-street-could-talk/)

## The Playlist

Rating A. 9 September 2018. Festival review. 

Barry Jenkins’ sublime follow-up to Moonlight is a faithful adaptation that captures the humor, verve and complexity of Baldwin’s prose. It is a movie about the struggle not to succumb to despair, finding moments that let you float above it all.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/beale-street-could-talk-review-20180909/)

## /Film — Chris Evangelista

Rating 9/10. 14 December 2018. 

Another cinematic wonder from Barry Jenkins, a swooning love story that will both warm and break your heart. It is one of the best movies of the year, with tremendous score and tender romance prevailing amid tragedy.

[Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/560895/if-beale-street-could-talk-review/)

## Deadline — Pete Hammond

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 15 December 2018. 

The critic calls it a lyrical, moving and quietly affecting love story worthy of James Baldwin that wrestles with deep social issues. He singles out the superb performances, especially Regina King's powerful work, along with the strong ensemble and Jenkins' team bringing the world to life.

[Read the review](https://deadline.com/video/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-barry-jenkins-artful-and-moving-follow-up-to-oscar-winner-moonlight/)

## NME — Olly Richards

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 February 2019. 

This is a heartrending yet eternally hopeful drama from Barry Jenkins about love that refuses to surrender in the face of injustice. The critic praises the lush, romantic visuals and the truthful portrayal of various kinds of love, especially Regina King's formidable supporting turn.

[Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/if-beale-street-could-talk-review-2444136)

## The Ringer — Adam Nayman

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2018. Festival review. 

Jenkins doubles down on plangent personal cinema with ravishing visuals and probing close-ups that convey the characters' bonds more powerfully than dialogue. It singles out Regina King's lived-in performance and the indelible peripheral moments for praise while noting the director's strength as a visual storyteller.

[Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2018/09/12/movies/if-beale-street-could-talk-widows-toronto-film-festival)

## The Wrap — Dan Callahan

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 2018. 

The critic finds glimmers of the artistry of Moonlight but notes difficulty translating Baldwin’s novel to the screen, resulting in an unwieldy adaptation where narration sometimes competes with imagery. He singles out indelible moments like Regina King's wig scene in Puerto Rico for praise amid the challenges.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/if-beale-street-could-talk-film-review-barry-jenkins-regina-king/)

## Collider — Matt Goldberg

Rating C. 14 December 2018. 

The film is less than the sum of its parts, getting lost between its love story and social injustice narratives, with stilted dialogue that feels unnatural on screen. It singles out the lyrical cinematography, haunting score, and devoted performances for praise while criticizing the overall lack of cohesion and emotional depth.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/if-beale-street-could-talk-review/)

## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 4 January 2019. 

A powerful condemnation of endemic and structural racism, a sweet love story and, at a technical level, a beautifully produced film with much to recommend it. However, it feels compromised and simplified, too polished and romantic to fully ring true, robbing it of some power.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/if-beale-street-could-talk-2018-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)

---
© 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/if-beale-street-could-talk.md