Most critics respond warmly to Yi Yi, with praise clustering around Yang’s compassion and his attention to the family’s private emotional lives. The reviews repeatedly find tenderness, insight and a sense of connection between lonely people in its account of ordinary lives disrupted. Several emphasise the characters’ decency and individuality; Eye for Film also singles out the young actors’ performances. The prevailing view is of a carefully constructed family story whose quiet observations carry considerable feeling.
The recorded responses range from mixed to strongly positive, with seven positive reviews and none negative. The reservations are harder to establish: the two mixed entries lack accessible critical text, so no specific objection can fairly be assigned to them. Slant Magazine’s caveat concerns the modest improvements in a restored presentation rather than a weakness in the film, whose quiet profundity it praises. There is little documented disagreement about the filmmaking itself.