Time Out London by Dave Calhoun

It’s a film of small moments and tiny gestures that leaves a very, very big impression.

The Telegraph by Tim Robey

This story is about whether secrets can be survived, whether the knowing or not knowing is more injurious. Haigh’s very fine, classically modulated film keeps these questions alive until literally its last shot, and lets them jangle their way through you for days afterwards.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

It could be the finest hour for both of its lead actors.

The Playlist by Jessica Kiang

A movie so simple, so elegant, and yet so devouringly empathetic that you might not notice its full magic until a few hours later.

RogerEbert.com by Susan Wloszczyna

If you prefer acting prowess over “Star Wars,” you won’t do better at year’s end than observing Rampling (she of the withering stare) and Courtenay (he of the soulful gaze), two stalwarts of that wonderful wave of British talent that hit our shores in the ‘60s, as they perform a finely calibrated pas de deux.

Slate by Dana Stevens

45 Years is about the relationship of the present to the past and of our past loves to our present lives—a relationship that, like any good marriage, remains a total mystery.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

45 Years is a quietly explosive film, a potent drama with a nuanced feel for subtlety and emotional complications.

The A.V. Club by A.A. Dowd

A small film of big insights, heavy on dialogue but light on speeches, 45 Years often seems closer in spirit to a ghost story: Nothing goes “boo” or rearranges the furniture, but there’s a unmissable sense that we’re watching two people haunted by a specter from another lifetime.

Village Voice by Melissa Anderson

With 45 Years, [Haigh] has created not only a searching examination of a long-term marriage — and the myths that sustain it — but also a compassionate portrait of a woman reconciling herself with those false notions.

Slant Magazine by Matt Brennan

It's the summative effect of the story's modest exchanges, unspooling one after another in long, tranquil shots, that lends the film its profound sense of loss.

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

Anchored by a sensational Charlotte Rampling as its lead, the movie combines Haigh's perceptive style with shades of Mike Leigh's "Another Year" to create a quietly moving and deceptively tragic look at aging romance haunted by past mysteries.

Screen Daily by Mark Adams

Beautifully observed, gently amusing and often performed with emphasis on the small things in life rather than any major dramatic incident, its focus on retrospective jealousy is an unusual and intriguing one…and offers an absorbing story that comes up with some gently profound truths.

Screen International by Mark Adams

Beautifully observed, gently amusing and often performed with emphasis on the small things in life rather than any major dramatic incident, its focus on retrospective jealousy is an unusual and intriguing one…and offers an absorbing story that comes up with some gently profound truths.

CineVue

Haigh's latest is an impressive study of a couple haunted by their past. and a potent reminder both of the fragility of love and the need to keep communication open at all times.

Empire

Full of restraint, from both its director and leads, this is a quiet gem with the power to move.

Variety by Charles Gant

Above all, 45 Years is a drama of quiet restraint.

The Hollywood Reporter by Stephen Dalton

Do not expect blazing emotional fireworks, just finely calibrated performances and deep reserves of inner torment.