63
Pop Aye has a pleasant, amiable tone, buttressed by Chananun Chotrungroj’s warm photography and picturesque framing as well as Lee Chatametikool’s purposeful editing scheme, and yet the film feels lacking overall.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
63
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
It too quickly opts out of its Scenes from a Marriage-like potential for what amounts to an augmented take on The Straight Story.
80
Screen International by Fionnuala Halligan
Soft and sweet, Kirsten Tan’s bright and airy debut is also quietly eloquent, speaking of a loss and regret.
75
Pop Aye is a standard, if well-made, indie road trip dramedy. But, you know, with an elephant.
80
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Watching the elephant work the room, so speak, interacting magisterially with all and sundry, is always a treat.
75
The Playlist by Kevin Jagernauth
There is an eventual reckoning, but one wishes that Tan, at least for these moments, had allowed the film a few more inches of dramatic space.
80
This bucolic escape from big-city life is anchored by a solid script filled with characters who, despite reaching the end of the road, find ways to make peace with the world.
70
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
They make a funny pair, by turns amusing and puzzling, though also melancholic and touching. For the most part, these variations seem by design in a movie that flirts with assorted narrative conventions and fluctuating moods without ever settling into a familiar template.
75
Pop Aye never dips into cutesiness or sentimentality, even when you might find yourself wishing it would; it’s less a big-top circus and more a low-key character study.
90
The Hollywood Reporter by Sheri Linden
Loneliness, alienation, the ache of nostalgia and the everyday absurdity of life infuse every encounter in the unconventional road trip.