Critic Rating
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Director
John Crowley
Cast
Saoirse Ronan,
Domhnall Gleeson,
Emory Cohen,
Jim Broadbent,
Julie Walters,
Jessica Paré
Genre
Drama,
Romance
Eilis Lacey, a young Irishwoman, emigrates to the US in the early 1950s to find employment. After she starts to build a life for herself there, family obligations call her back to her hometown and she must choose where she wants to forge her future.
Incredibly earnest and human. Saoirse Ronan is a powerhouse in everything that she is in, but this performance of hers, in particular, remains a standout. Very excited for John Crowley's next film, as his direction within the romance genre adds so much to the story.
Brooklyn is a really lovely and touching film that follows Ellis Lacey's journey from Ireland to America. This film includes one of Saoirse Ronan's best performances, with her heart broken by loss and torn between the comfort of home and the hope and possibilities of a new environment.
Saoirse Ronan is, as always, excellent. The film as a whole is heartbreaking, and sweet, and delightful all at once.
Every performance in this film is pitch perfect, and the screenplay is incredibly well-balanced with just enough joy and just enough sorrow to make the viewing experience captivating and rewarding.
Absolutely delightful. This story is heartbreakingly real even to this day for people who have to choose between their new country and their old. Ellis is played wonderfully by Saoirse Ronan, and the cinematography is absolutely beautiful.
Time Out by Joshua Rothkopf
The movement of the story—from wrenching homesickness to blooming confidence and a smile on one’s stroll to work—elevates the movie into universal urban poetry.
The Playlist by Rodrigo Pérez
A heartbreaking and poignant story about choices, country, commitments, sacrifice, and love, Brooklyn is a superb, luminous, and bittersweet portrayal of who we are, where we’ve come from, where we’re going, and the places we call home.
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
Classily and classically crafted in the best sense by director John Crowley and screenwriter Nick Hornby, this superbly acted romantic drama is set in the early 1950s and provides the feeling of being lifted into a different world altogether, so transporting is the film’s sense of time and place and social mores.
Total Film by Phillip Kemp
Colm Tóibín’s bitter-sweet novel of the Irish expat experience brought impeccably to the screen by Crowley and Hornby, with Saoirse Ronan excelling herself in the leaf.
Village Voice by Nick Schager
The film serves as an authentic examination of the mid-twentieth-century immigrant experience — and an intimate exploration of one woman's attempt to understand who she is and where she wants to belong.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
A godsend for audiences who hunger for rich emotion presented with wit, grace and not a trace of sentimentality, Brooklyn illustrates the power of restraint in dealing with poignant, impassioned material.
RogerEbert.com by Glenn Kenny
People have spoken about how understated and old-fashioned Brooklyn is, to the extent that it might come across as a pleasant innocuous entertainment. Don’t be fooled. Brooklyn is not toothless. But it is big-hearted, romantic and beautiful.
Observer by Rex Reed
A sensitive, dewy-eyed yet mature performance by Saoirse Ronan is the appealing centerpiece of Brooklyn.
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
It’s possible to be heartwarming and tough-minded, as this wonderful film demonstrates. And it’s possible to be both “old-fashioned” and vibrant, too. It’s the best new/old movie in town.
Washington Post by Ann Hornaday
Soaring, swooning and gently nostalgic, Brooklyn takes melodrama to a new level of reassuring simplicity and emotional transparency.
Hitfix
It's a damn good movie.
CineVue
The casting is perfect and the acting uniformly superb. For all its lack of depth, the script is sharp, zippy and only occasionally hokey.
The Telegraph by Tim Robey
The star of Brooklyn is Fiona Weir – not a person who appears on screen at any stage, but the woman who cast it.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Without Ronan’s performance, Brooklyn might have left a sugary taste. But she is the ingredient that brings everything together: her calm poise anchors almost every scene and every shot.
Screen Daily
Brooklyn balances its melodramatic leanings with several light touches.
Variety by Peter Debruge
A robust romantic drama, rich in history and full of emotion, Brooklyn fills a niche in which the studios once specialized, using a well-read and respected novel as the grounds for a tenderly observed tearjerker.
IndieWire
Brooklyn showcases a number of appealing ingredients, but ultimately lacks an adequate story to prop them up.
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