60
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenRebecca Thomas's debut feature is a sensible and humane exploration of youthful curiosity.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceElectrick Children juggles heavy things, with humor and sobriety in their proper, Book of Ecclesiastes turn. Best of all, Thomas has an aversion to the easy resolution—she knows precisely which mysteries to keep dangling.
- 60EmpireEmpireAn interesting and catchy take on a traditional tale of repressed teenage rebellion.
- 60The GuardianThe GuardianRebecca Thomas's gauzy debut about a 15-year-old Mormon who believes she's had an immaculate conception after hearing a cover of Blondie's Hanging on the Telephone is so deftly done it's three parts enchantment to one part irritation.
- 60Total FilmPaul BradshawTotal FilmPaul BradshawCareful, kids – rock’n’roll can get you pregnant. Or that’s what one Mormon teen believes in this cute lo-fi indie from first-timer Rebecca Thomas.
- 60Time OutTime OutThe best moments in filmmaker Rebecca Thomas’s debut feature manage flashes of wide-eyed grace — that is, when the overly precious, half-formed story isn’t undermining her understated direction and the work of a fine cast.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThis material could so easily have tipped over into false sentimentality, but everyone works with a steady hand. Rebecca Thomas makes an assured debut as both writer and director, the gifted Culkin is excellent as always, and Garner finds lovely shades of nuance in Rachel’s innocent faith.
- 60The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenElectrick Children is well acted and refreshingly nonjudgmental, but its narrative continuity is tenuous at best. As it jounces along toward a pat, unsatisfying ending, it leaves essential questions unanswered. But the movie’s underlying sweetness leaves a residual glow.
- 60Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThough unevenly told and at times too fanciful for its own good, Electrick Children marks an intriguing feature debut for its risk-taking writer-director, Rebecca Thomas.