The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jennie Punter

One of the most irresistible films of the year so far.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

Wonderfully funny and subversively affecting.

The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin

Submarine is the film "Youth In Revolt" should have been, an achingly sad yet ribald account of a hyper-verbal oddball's ascent/descent into manhood.

Time by Richard Corliss

It's a cagey delight, and an imposing feature directorial debut for one of Britain's TV stalwarts.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Writer-director Richard Ayoade has the knack. A fresh and inventive cinematic voice, he's taken a subject that's been beaten half to death and brought it miraculously to life in his smart and funny debut feature, Submarine.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams

As an homage to an influential director, Submarine blows "Super 8" out of the water.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

Submarine isn't an insipid teen sex comedy. It flaunts some stylistic devices, such as titles and sections and self-aware narration, but it doesn't try too hard to be desperately clever.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips

Isn't merely joke-funny. It's texture-funny.

New York Post by Kyle Smith

The excruciating and the hilarious mingle nearly to perfection in this marvelously visualized and deeply felt British film.

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

Where "Bridesmaids" has plenty of solid gags, it's not much to look at; Submarine always has something impressive to watch even when its plot is on autopilot.

Time Out

Submarine may not be epic cinema, but in a modest way, it's close to perfection.

The New Yorker by David Denby

In all, this is a movie that is partial to youth as a state of being. The grownups seem finished, as frozen in their lifetime roles as creatures out of myth or the Bible. But Oliver and Jordana have the freedom to go anywhere, do anything, become anything. Submarine is an exhilarating surprise.

Slant Magazine by Jesse Cataldo

It cheats a little, using a mix of amateurish extreme close-ups and striking Welsh industrial vistas to substitute for real technical proficiency, but also applies more formal consideration than most films, namely teen-centered comedies, ever do.

Variety

Rises above the genre's tired, cookie-cutter competition, presenting familiar elements, such as preternaturally articulate teens preoccupied with virginity, through fresh eyes.

The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore

Writer-director Richard Ayoade's feature debut is witty and quirky, with a gripping performance by Paddy Considine.

Boxoffice Magazine by Ray Greene

An auspicious, controlled and altogether droll debut film that resembles Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" without being derived from it.

Village Voice by Nick Pinkerton

Though Submarine isn't a dull head-movie, amid the bells and whistles, Roberts seems less its star than its cameraman.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

The film is so self-conscious it seems to be dictating your every reaction.

Observer by Rex Reed

The movie knocks itself unconscious trying to be offbeat, but instead of cinematic heart, the director self-indulges in cinematic art, drowning the whole thing in freeze frames, slow-motion and color-coding, owing everything he knows to the worst of Jean-Luc Godard and Wes Anderson.