I Carry You with Me: reviews

What the critics say average 7.8 from 24 outlets

• 10 Film ThreatLorry Kikta I Carry You With Me is an emotional powerhouse that had me and the other moviegoers crying our collective eyes out. Read
• 10 The Washington PostAnn Hornaday Ewing joins a generation of filmmakers who are using every piece of cinematic grammar available to communicate the emotional core of their stories and characters, fusing the impressionistic liberties of drama with more visceral truths to startling and potent effect. Read
• 9.1 Entertainment WeeklyDavid Canfield In Ewing’s hands and as anchored by two superb performances, Iván and Gerardo’s romance gets scaled up to an epic, a searing saga of the undocumented experience in which love is the binding force. Read
• 9.1 The Film StageJoshua Encinias What’s tender in the film is tinged with sadness. Documentary footage of Iván and Gerardo is in harmony with absorbing performances by Armando Espitia and Christian Vasquez. And these disparate pieces under different leadership wouldn’t come together as masterfully if not for Heidi Ewing’s exceptional vision. Read
• 9.1 Original-CinLiam Lacey Though the subject of immigrants from persecuted minorities fleeing their homelands is topical, what elevates I Carry You With Me above most social dramas is its finespun, artisanal quality. Read
• 9.0 Screen RantMae Abdulbaki I Carry You With Me poignantly captures the ache, the beauty of the characters’ love, and the pieces that get left behind in pursuit of something new. Read
• 8.8 The Boston GlobeTy Burr “I Carry You With Me” is an act of memory, of romance, and of friendship all in one — a movie that takes the kind of undocumented immigrants’ saga we think we know and recasts it in a dreamy, bittersweet light. Read
• 8.0 The Hollywood ReporterJon Frosch This is an intimate epic, imbued with a warmth and a tenderness that radiate from both behind and in front of the camera. Read
• 8.0 New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis Turning time and memory into an elliptical portrait of what it means when borders become barriers, I Carry You With Me, the first narrative feature from the documentary filmmaker Heidi Ewing, trades distance for empathy. Read
• 8.0 Rolling StoneDavid Fear It is a gorgeous film, and one that deserves to be seen on a giant screen as much as that other only-in-theaters release this weekend, F9. And even when I Carry You With Me becomes so lost in its aesthetic that you worry it’s losing focus, this impressionistic approach doesn’t take away from what is an intimate, extremely personal story of two men fighting to build a life with each other. Read
• 7.8 The Austin ChronicleJenny Nulf Admirable efforts aside, I Carry You With Me is still an enchanting mix of drama and romance, but also a timely, poetic love letter to Iván’s home country, Mexico. Read
• 7.5 Associated PressLindsey Bahr “I Carry You with Me” couldn’t be any more specific about the trials of an undocumented gay couple trying to carve out a place for themselves, but it’s that specificity that makes its themes and emotions all the more universal. Read
• 7.5 Roger EbertSheila O'Malley “I Carry You with Me” is a complicated film, in many ways, and it covers a lot of ground, but the emotions portrayed are simple and human-sized. Read
• 7.5 The A.V. ClubKatie Rife Teaching the audience about the intricacies of the U.S. immigration system isn’t the point of this film—the point is to make you feel the intangible ache of being where you belong and far away from home at the same time. In that way, the film poetically, heartbreakingly succeeds. Read
• 7.5 San Francisco ChronicleDavid Lewis Without an ounce of the polemic, [Ewing] offers a vivid perspective of the United States’ immigration issues through a romantic lens. It’s not a new perspective, by any means, but the way she brings it has a poignant beauty all its own. Read
• 7.5 Movie NationRoger Moore “I Carry You With Me” is an innovative take on the classic “coming to America” immigrant saga. Read
• 7.5 The Globe and MailChandler Levack While the film is tonally incongruous and confusing at points, Ivan and Gerardo’s powerful love story has such high stakes, you can’t help but swoon. Read
• 7.0 The Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern The production, which grew out of the filmmaker’s friendship with the two men, Iván and Gerardo, is so heartfelt, and the material so intrinsically powerful, that I Carry You With Me slowly catches up with itself, and lights a fire fueled by food and love. That’s a winning combination in this story, just as it is in real life. Read
• 7.0 Los Angeles TimesJustin Chang Its imperfections and its beauties are inextricable from each other, and also from the sad, inspiring real-life story it has to tell. Read
• 7.0 Forbes MéxicoJJ Negrete Based on a true story and featuring the real Iván and Gerardo, I Carry You with Me is an invitation to stop hiding, whether because of one’s sexuality or one’s immigration status, so that the fear of being “found out” and labelled can turn into a chance simply to “live”, aware of the sacrifices that choice entails. Read
• 6.7 The PlaylistGregory Ellwood Ewing makes a creative decision in the final act of the picture which simply sucks all the air out of the room. Read
• 6.7 IndiewireJude Dry “I Carry You With Me” succeeds in distilling a very engrossing and moving narrative from this real life drama. Ewing’s visual choices are at once sweeping and precise Read
• 6.0 The GuardianPhuong Le Revolving around a tender true love story, this first narrative feature from seasoned documentary director Heidi Ewing (which won a couple of awards at Sundance) is a fascinating – though at times uneven – blend of film styles. Read
• 3.8 Slant MagazineDiego Semerene Heidi Ewing’s tale of immigration and deportation afflicting the lives of a Mexican gay couple flashes its reason for being at every turn. Read