81
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The PlaylistDiana DrummThe PlaylistDiana DrummAfter years of being a long-lost gem, Cousin Jules has finally been found and is receiving its due as an innovative, meditative case study of rural life.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeRescued from decay after the director's 2011 death and looking radiant in a 2K restoration, this quiet gem is a time capsule whose potential audience may be small, but will be transported.
- 88Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoIt's a bit reductive in terms of a personal portrait, but this is a film that's not concerned with telling the story of a man, instead making him a representative symbol of a mostly bygone way of life, a reminder of both the fleeting nature of individual experience and the steady patterns of a broader human existence.
- 88New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeIt only seems plotless. Momentous things happen, one of them telegraphed in a single heartbreaking shot. The sense of time and place is so intense that Jules’ way of life seems to be disappearing even as we watch him.
- 80Village VoiceZachary WigonVillage VoiceZachary WigonThoroughly transporting, the peacefulness and clarity of Cousin Jules can't help but reveal, by contrast, the restlessness and agitation too common to life today.
- 80Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearFor 91 minutes, the pleasure of the Guiteauxes’ company is ours. We are ultimately the richer for it.
- 80VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibYet even as the timelessness of the human activity on display seduces with its serenity, it evokes in modern viewers a definite impatience with the impracticality of traditional rites and rhythms, perhaps only enjoyable in 90-minute doses.
- 70The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasAs director Dominique Benicheti invites the audience to contemplate this way of life—and that’s all the film seeks to accomplish, which is plenty—he reveals the virtues of simplicity, routine, and quietly communing with the natural world.
- 60The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottCousin Jules is in many ways a wonder to see and hear, but there is less to it than meets the eye.