74
Metascore
42 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperChicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSouthside with You is a sweet, intelligent, well-crafted, wonderfully romantic, no-frills re-imagination of the first date between Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe result makes you realize how few realistic and three-dimensional date movies have been made in an era of throbbing hook-up encounters and R-rated horny teen gross-outs.
- 80VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangRichard Tanne’s writing-directing debut deepens into a pointed, flowing conversation about the many challenges (and varieties) of African-American identity, the need for both idealism and compromise, and the importance of making peace with past disappointments in order to effect meaningful change in the future.
- 80New York Daily NewsEdward DouglasNew York Daily NewsEdward DouglasWhat makes Southside With You work so beautifully is that it could be a romantic comedy about two strangers, but because the characters are based on two people we feel we know pretty well, it adds another layer to the unfolding relationship drama.
- 75ConsequenceMichael RoffmanConsequenceMichael RoffmanSouthside with You is a rewarding bite-sized drama, rich with characters who we already know, but also don’t really know.
- 75The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupMost nuanced and effective in the feeling of getting to know someone the first time, when the evident foretelling is put to the side, this is simply an absorbing love story.
- 75The PlaylistNoel MurrayThe PlaylistNoel MurrayThe movie holds to a steady but too-straight rhythm, hitting all the expected romantic-drama beats, right down to the occasional argument that threatens to stop the date cold. But Southside With You is also winningly sweet and earnest, and refreshingly frank about the problems that minorities face when they try to get ahead in a culture dominated by white males.
- 70Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThough sometimes achingly on-the-nose in its attempts to foreshadow these characters’ destiny, Southside With You radiates enough wistful charm to overcome the well-meaning earnestness.
- 60The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanSouthside With You uses our affection for the Obamas to add urgency in the otherwise simple script.