31
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThe only way to appreciate The Book of Henry is by treating it as the movie equivalent of a summer read, a beach book that tries to pack in the full breadth of human experience into a few too many pages.
- 42The Film StageDaniel SchindelThe Film StageDaniel SchindelWatching The Book of Henry feels like being gaslit.
- 42The PlaylistDrew TaylorThe PlaylistDrew TaylorThe entire thing feels forced and hollow, less an authentic expression of the human experience and more a gee-whiz exercise in cleverness, slathered in a healthy coat of multiplex-friendly weirdness.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe preposterousness of Gregg Hurwitz's screenplay isn't enough to throw star Naomi Watts off her game, and the actor's sincere performance may suffice to keep a segment of the family-film demographic on board, barely.
- 40TheWrapDan CallahanTheWrapDan CallahanThe really sad thing is that this is a movie with some intriguing characters that has some real comic and dramatic potential, but all this gets lost in increasingly silly plot mechanics.
- 30VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe film’s muted yet still rather flamboyant terribleness derives from the fact that it seems to be juggling three or four borderline schlock genres at once.
- 25Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonSchmaltzy, manipulative, and tonally schizophrenic, The Book of Henry is such a monumentally misguided venture that it ends up being oddly, if unintentionally, compelling.
- The Book of Henry is the most misguided film since the 2003 Gary Oldman abomination "Tiptoes." Trevorrow is slated to helm an upcoming Star Wars film, so y’all have fun with that.