Sweet Bean(あん)

IndieWire by

The movie is not without some small pleasures...but neither character is developed beyond broad characteristics, in spite of them occupying 95% of the film's taxing two-hour running time.

Screen International by Dan Fainaru

The clichés start to arrive in rapid succession. Even the most moving performances cannot disguise their obviousness.

The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young

Director Naomi Kawase’s adaptation of Durian Sukegawa’s novel An aims so low that it makes good on its modest ambitions.

The New York Times by Glenn Kenny

The movie, beautifully shot and acted, earns its ultimate sense of hope by confronting real heartbreak head-on, and with compassion.

Variety by Guy Lodge

Just as An itself seems on the verge of flying away, however, Kawase rewards her audience with an unapologetically contrived but effectively eye-moistening surge of feeling.

CineVue by John Bleasdale

Sweet Red Bean Paste is a modest film which seeks profundity in the detail of life.

The A.V. Club by Mike D'Angelo

What makes this film more potentially enticing to Westerners than the seven films that preceded it? Two words: food porn.

The Playlist by Oliver Lyttelton

Unfortunately, it proves to be as disposable as the snack it revolves around.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

The film has an impeccable technical finish, but it is insipid, contrived, solemn, and ever so slightly preposterous.

The Film Stage by Zhuo-Ning Su

A well-crafted mainstream effort with accessible emotions and that whiff of Kawase-que zen.