71
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeIt makes a global crisis intensely personal, even romantic.
- 80Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternThe result is better than smart, it’s stirring.
- 75Chicago TribuneKatie WalshChicago TribuneKatie WalshHartigan has a knack for sensitive, human dramas, and while Little Fish takes place in a near-future heightened reality, the story is relatable not only because we’re all living through a pandemic ourselves, dealing with grief and loss on a scale that ranges from the deeply personal to the impossibly large, but because this kind of loss is also very real.
- 75The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckThe Associated PressJocelyn NoveckTalk about timing. When he began making Little Fish, an intimate and affecting romance in a sci-fi setting, director Chad Hartigan had no idea the world would be coping with a real pandemic in the real 2021. Watching this fictional society begin to fray in panic feels just a tad too close for comfort.
- 75RogerEbert.comChristy LemireRogerEbert.comChristy LemireLittle Fish would have left a lingering, wistful feeling under ordinary circumstances. Debuting during a pandemic, however, adds a layer of poignancy to this story of a worldwide virus that causes memory loss, creating loneliness and isolation for both its victims and their loved ones.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyMary SollosiEntertainment WeeklyMary SollosiObsessed though it is with the past, throughout its whole runtime, the best part always lies ahead.
- 70The New York TimesKristen Yoonsoo KimThe New York TimesKristen Yoonsoo KimOnce you’re swept up in Emma and Jude’s romance — it’s not hard, even though the montages veer a little too precious — the skimmed-over science matters little. This is sci-fi rooted more in feelings than fact. Its resonance is similar to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” though it’s arguably antithetical in plot.
- 70VarietyNick SchagerVarietyNick SchagerA portrait of life’s impermanence, it’s a bittersweet small-scale saga whose occasional sluggishness is offset by its sensitivity.
- 63Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonThe film gets at the profound truth that our relationship with another person is, at its core, a collection of shared memories.
- 42The A.V. ClubCharles BramescoThe A.V. ClubCharles BramescoThe lackluster Little Fish banks on the automatic pathos of its subject matter, unaware that such delicate material actually requires greater skill and finesse to pull off, now more than ever. Rather than imbuing this unintended commentary with a cathartic charge, its proximity to reality accentuates the air of inauthenticity.