Ben Is Back: reviews

What the critics say average 6.5 from 11

• 8.0 Screen DailyWendy Ide Roberts deft flip between cosy suburban mom and dogged mother-avenger is one of the main pleasures in a film which contains plenty of gallows humor despite the bleak backdrop of the story Read
• 8.0 FotogramasAntonio Trashorras The Hedges movie, moving and engaging, is, first, a mother-made drama with a veridical invoice without foolishnesses; and, then, a thriller (or something like that) some artificial in the plot but unquestionably effective on the screen. Julia Roberts [...] shows almost any human emotion possible. Read
• 8.0 The WrapSteve Pond In this time for movies about teens in trouble, it?s the mom in this one who packs the biggest punch. Read
• 7.0 FotogramasDaniel Martínez Mantilla A remarkable film that, despite getting entangled in a criminal plot that weighs down the last act of the story, knows how to obtain the most of a simple approach to a big problem: Peter Hedges doesn't try to find the answers that lead to addiction, but explore the emotions that this leaves in its wake Read
• 7.0 The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore Peter Hedges shows they can scare us as well with Ben Is Back, an addiction drama starring Julia Roberts and the helmer's son, Lucas Hedges. Another in a string of impressive turns by the young actor and one of the best things Roberts has ever done, the film is aware of the weight of its subject but loath to behave like an "important" film ? focusing instead on the specificity of one sick young man and the family that loves and fears him in almost equal measure Read
• 7.0 VarietyPeter Debruge The entire film is that rarest of gifts for its cast, providing virtually every character with a chance to play not only the present moment, but the complicated history they?ve established with Ben in the past, as well as whatever chance they see in the troubled young man?s future. Read
• 6.7 The PlaylistJordan Ruimy It?s an uneven film, but a deeply passionate one that also features an A-list actress at the top of her game. Read
• 6.0 El MundoFrancisco Marinero On Christmas Eve it positively surprises a drama focused only on the portrait of two characters: a mother and her son [...] The drama is situated in a relationship that wants to overcome tragedy by force of love without complicity [...] The confirmation of Lucas Hedges as one of the best actors of his generation. Read
• 6.0 CinemaníaToni Vall Peter Hedges immerses us in an abrupt and tense film [...] It uses the resources and the rhythm of a competent fiction, narrated with trade. It is neat, efficient and effective in its purposes and its expression on the screen. Read
• 4.0 The GuardianBenjamin Lee There are good intentions and good performances here, but they?re squandered in a movie that isn?t quite sure what it should be and how far it should go Read
• 4.0 El PeriódicoNando Salvà 'Ben is Back' is losing credibility as it is no longer a chamber drama to become something like a' thriller' [...] Julia Roberts dazzles in the skin of a mother forced to pay the price of unconditional love. Read