Slant Magazine by Chuck Bowen

It takes cojones for a filmmaker to chase Fassbinder's ghost, but it takes heart and talent to damn near catch up with it.

NPR by Tomas Hachard

Laurence Anyways flows naturally, both thematically and stylistically, from Dolan's previous movies; here, though, he succeeds more than ever at incorporating his visual idiosyncrasies into the narrative. In "I Killed My Mother" and even more so in "Heartbeats," the director's long slow-motion sequences and overbearing, eclectic soundtracks could feel like crutches, overused particularly during characters' moments of vulnerability.

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

A big, beautiful, rambling immersion in a passion whose heat is fueled primarily by its impossibility.

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

For once in a Dolan film, an actor upstages the camera moves. That’s a promising precedent, as well as a hint that artistic adulthood won’t spoil this hotdogging prodigy.

Empire by David Hughes

It's hard to imagine that the prodigiously gifted Dolan is still in his early twenties. This is another work of marvellous maturity and assurance.

Total Film by James Mottram

Dolan never flinches across this bold, brassy piece; it’s confidently directed, stylishly shot, passionately acted and evocatively scored.

Arizona Republic by Bill Goodykoontz

Laurence Anyways is like a big, ornate, overstuffed pillow of a movie. It’s attractive and comfortable, even if there’s just too much of it.

Village Voice by Calum Marsh

The film expresses, with much style and sophistication (if, at nearly three hours, perhaps an overabundance of both), the personal tragedy of love torn apart, of watching helplessly as your life crashes hard into another's but fails to stick.

Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf

Forgive this film its marvelous moodiness — someone needs to go there once in a while.

Portland Oregonian

It's a remarkably mature achievement

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

The movie contains an epic scope that feels out of sync with the smallness of its plot; you get the idea by the first act and then Laurence's world simply hangs there for another two hours like a slo-mo shrug.

The Playlist by Kevin Jagernauth

Unwieldy and unkempt but both moving and dizzying to experience, Laurence Anyways is Dolan's grandest statement yet.

Portland Oregonian by Grant Butler

It's a remarkably mature achievement

Variety by Rob Nelson

The clearest achievement of Dolan’s typically self-indulgent eye-popper comes in equating its gender-bending protagonist’s metamorphoses with those in any relationship that lasts for years.

The Hollywood Reporter

Even if the story grates in places, Laurence Anyways is perfectly enjoyable as an immersive orgy of pure sensory pleasure.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey

In a contest between passion and pretension, Laurence Anyways reaches a kind of draw. What holds up here isn’t Dolan’s overly decorative filmmaking, but what he gets from his performers.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

It goes on for ever without getting properly started: an epic of depthless self-indulgence.