84
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Screen DailySarah WardScreen DailySarah WardThe film’s insights into the isolation evident in the relationships most take for granted — marriages, parent-child connections and long-term friendships — don’t merely hit their targets; they smash them with a sledgehammer.
- 90VarietyMaggie LeeVarietyMaggie LeeShot in a meticulous yet unmannered style, the film provides the veteran cast with an ideal framework to mount masterful performances.
- 88Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThroughout Harmonium, writer-director Kôji Fukada works in a rapt and lucid hyper-textural style that suggests a merging of the sensibilities of Alfred Hitchcock and Yasujirô Ozu.
- 83The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangHarmonium builds to something peculiar and unusual by its close, and has a melancholic, discordant, uneasy sustain that lingers long after.
- 80The GuardianLeslie FelperinThe GuardianLeslie FelperinAlthough the story unfolds at a steady pace over two hours, the filmmaking is sufficiently elegant and metronomically efficient as to make every minute gripping, especially after the tragic twist halfway through the story.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungIt’s hard not to leave the film shaken.
- 80Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonTime Out LondonTom HuddlestonThis is a provocative, intelligent movie for those with a strong emotional constitution.
- Fukada contrasts understated realism with haunting, dreamlike images. Unsettling and morally complex.