80
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesNicolas RapoldThe New York TimesNicolas RapoldIt’s both the best children’s animated film this year since “Inside Out” — you might call it “Outside In” — and, unexpectedly, a more stirring depiction of the deadening modern megalopolis than most heal-the-world documentaries.
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayAs with the movie as a whole, the message those scenes deliver is a heady mix of uplifting and devastating.
- 83Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIt’s lovely, child’s-eye fantasia.
- 80VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyBeyond its sheer, intense variety and ingenuity, Abreu’s animation remains so appealing throughout because it always feels handmade.
- 80Village VoiceSherilyn ConnellyVillage VoiceSherilyn ConnellyTension between the city and the country has been a fertile topic for as long as there've been cities, and Alê Abreu's phantasmagoric The Boy and the World explores the eternal conflict in a familiar yet wholly original way.
- 75New York PostSara StewartNew York PostSara StewartVirtually dialogue-free and animated in a cacophony of playful bright colors and ominous industrial landscapes, Boy & the World plays like a dream segueing into a nightmare.
- 75RogerEbert.comChristy LemireRogerEbert.comChristy LemireBoy and the World is dazzlingly colorful and alive, often resembling a more elaborate version of the kind of childlike drawings you probably have stuck to your refrigerator door right now.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyEven if the film could be accused of lacking subtlety and overloading on whimsy, it spreads a sobering message in a lucid story that remains visually alive and inventive throughout — its aesthetic keeps constantly shifting yet remains fluid.
- 70Los Angeles TimesCharles SolomonLos Angeles TimesCharles SolomonBoy & the World is a brightly colored, often charming film that juxtaposes simple, hand-drawn animation with kaleidoscopic computer-generated patterns.
- 50Slant MagazineCarson LundSlant MagazineCarson LundOne wonders how receptive young audiences should be to a film that puts its storytelling secondary to its message-making.