88
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumYagira's performance is so extraordinary, it won him the best actor prize at the 2004 Cannes film festival.
- 90Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderYuya Yagira, winner of the best actor award at Cannes this year, is superb as the protective eldest child; he and his other nonprofessional costars are quietly heartbreaking.
- 90The New York TimesDana StevensThe New York TimesDana StevensNot for the faint of heart, though it has no scenes of overt violence, and barely a tear is shed. It is also strangely thrilling, not only because of the quiet assurance of Mr. Kore-eda's direction, but also because of his alert, humane sense of sympathy.
- 88New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoKore-eda presents the deeply moving story in a documentary style that is both gentle and compelling.
- 80VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyKore-eda sketches the inner, spiritual and emotional lives of the children with subtlety and sensitivity, delivering the goods after a seemingly directionless first half.
- 80The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneI certainly came out of Nobody Knows feeling numb; only later, reflecting on the fact that the movie was inspired by a true story, did it occur to me that the numbness could have been deliberate, and that what suffused this picture was a mist of anger.
- 80Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonIt's a heart-sundering vision of preadolescent helplessness that rivals passages of "Landscape in the Mist" and "Ponette."
- 80The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasLoosely structured around four seasons, Nobody Knows unfolds in a long series of episodes that slowly progress from lightly comic to bracingly sad as the situation deteriorates.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardExcellent, troubling social commentary based on a true story.