63
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Screen DailyAllan HunterScreen DailyAllan HunterTove has great charm, craft and a warming glow.
- 80VarietyAlissa SimonVarietyAlissa SimonMarking her fifth feature, Bergroth flexes her considerable cinematic powers, conjuring vibrantly expressive visuals and confident performances from her talented cast, especially the petite theater thesp Pöysti, who excels in her first leading film role and strongly resembles the real Tove.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSan Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonPoysti’s subtle, layered performance conveys Tove’s complex dilemma with sweetness and pain. This is a portrait not of a lady on fire, but of a woman struggling to strike the match.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinAlong the way, parallels with key characters from the children's stories and their adventures are gestured at vaguely. But the film doesn't particularly require in-depth knowledge of Moominism and can be enjoyed for its bright performances, on-point costumes and sets, and empathic portrait of young love.
- 70The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneWhereas Cruella sent me back to Dodie Smith, as a blessed escape from what Disney has done to her creations, Tove dispatched me down a rabbit hole, or through a Moomin door. I recommend the trip.
- 60The GuardianCath ClarkeThe GuardianCath ClarkeWhere biopics often end up with a cardboard-tasting blandness, the focus on Jansson’s interior world gives this film moments that really come to life.
- 60The Irish TimesTara BradyThe Irish TimesTara BradyThis is a rather conventional artist’s biopic for an unconventional person and it’s a film that ends as suddenly (and frustratingly) as it begins.
- 60The Observer (UK)Simran HansThe Observer (UK)Simran HansAlma Pöysti is luminous as Jansson, bringing to life her playful, pleasure-seeking artist’s spirit.
- 40The New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe New York TimesTeo BugbeeThe soft-focus cinematography is beautiful but drippy, and this general tendency toward mushy melodramatics presents an unflattering contrast to the sharp-lined vivacity that Jansson brought to the page.