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| It’s profoundly moving and thoroughly mind provoking, but despite the poignant subject matter, I promise you will not leave Philomena depressed. I’ve seen it twice and felt exhilarated, informed, enriched, absorbed and optimistic both times. |
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| (Rex Reed, New York Observer) |
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| Frears, in fine form at 72, has proved himself a modest master at juggling the serious and the silly in such actors' showcases as The Queen and Tamara Drewe; and the script by Coogan and Jeff Pope, brims with bright dialogue. |
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| (Mary Corliss, Time) |
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| Stephen Frears returns to top form in a touching, at times funny true story of grave injustice and a mother's search for closure. |
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| (Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter) |
| Effective, fact-based melodrama that packs an unexpected emotional wallop. |
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| (Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian) |
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| Dench and Coogan's chemistry is undeniably great. In the end, he manages to give her the answers she seeks and she manages to give him a heart. |
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| (Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly) |
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| Even through improbable moments and abrupt changes of pace and tone, Ms. Dench and Mr. Coogan hold the movie together. |
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| (Stephen Holden, New York Times) |
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| Getting full comic effect from its class-comedy abrasions, Philomena rises to poignancy and profundity as Dench reveals her control of a character stained by the loss of her child and troubled by her suspicion. |
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| (Mary Corliss, Time) |
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| The Catholic Church does not come off well in Philomena, but then, what else is new? And the film isn't so much an indictment of institutional unkindness as it is a story of resilience, resolution - and human kindness. |
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| (Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer) |
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| Philomena is a tearjerker of rare honesty and craft. |
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| (Ty Burr, Boston Globe) |
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| At its core, this clever, wrenching, profound story underscores the tenacity of faith in the face of unfathomable cruelty. Evil may be good, story-wise. But virtue, at its most tested and tempered, is even better. |
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| (Ann Hornaday, Washington Post) |
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| Director Steven Frears deserves special mention. A lesser filmmaker could so easily have turned this project into mushy, sentimental junk. The tear-jerking moments here are heartfelt and real. It’s the kind of filmmaking we see too little of today. |
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| (Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times) |
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| It's Dench, showing how faith and hellraising can reside in the same woman, who makes Philomena moving and memorable. |
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| (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) |
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| Most credit goes to Coogan for the success of this odd coupling. |
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| (Roger Moore, Movie Nation) |
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| Philomena is simply one of those small, true stories that astonish in print and inspire good movies. |
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| (Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times) |
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| It's certainly a crowd-pleaser... and something close to a triumph, if not an unqualified one. |
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| (Oliver Lyttelton, The Playlist) |
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| Compelling, poignant and gently funny. |
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| (Claudia Puig, USA Today) |
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| It’s an undeniable whopper of a yarn and, coming after a string of middling efforts from Frears, easily the director’s most compulsively watchable picture since “The Queen." |
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| (Justin Chang, Variety) |
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| Philomena could have been a sappy movie, but it’s not. Instead, with such assured performances, it’s proof that sometimes a laugh makes swallowing a big dose of outrage a little easier. |
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| (Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic) |
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| The movie is overcalculating and occasionally coarse, but it has a gentle spirit. We should count its existence as a blessing. |
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| (David Edelstein, New York Magazine) |
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| A trip to America bears its share of exasperated hotel-room humor, but watch both actors lean into characters seeking redemption; their clash is invigorating, with a mature payoff that has two minds meeting and getting further along. It’s a tonic to all the Oscar-season showboating: Call it Best Duo. |
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| (Joshua Rothkop, Time Out New York) |
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| The grande dame's performance, alternately goofy and grave, is an absolute tour de force. |
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| (Inkoo Kang, Village Voice) |
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| A terrific, sophisticated comedy that tackles serious issues with a lightness of touch and a spirit of steel, Philomena is the British film to beat come BAFTA time. |
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| (Damon Wise, Empire) |
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| Odd-couple chemistry from Dench and Coogan, a smart script and honed direction make this real-life story highly compelling. Blending comedy and tragedy, it secretes a potent sting. |
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| (Philip Kemp, Total Film) |
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| It's a terrifically moving film that has a fitting earthbound feel to it. |
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| (Dave Calhoun, Time Out London) |
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| Frears manages to get the tone just right. Even the most jaded of audiences will find it hard not to be moved by Philomena's quest for her missing son. |
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| (Geoffrey Macnab, Independent) |
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| Philomena is a real delight. Funny, moving, beautifully performed and directed with restraint and a wonderfully delicate touch. |
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| (Mark Adams, Screen International) |
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| A return to form for Stephen Frears in this amusing and inquisitive road movie. |
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| (David Jenkins, Little White Lies) |
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| Ultimately, this is a warm-hearted crowd-pleaser. |
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| (Simon Reynolds, Digital Spy) |
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| Frears directs events in his usual unfussy, unpretentious manner - letting the actors explore the scenes to the max. |
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| (James Mottram, The List) |
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| A terrifically moving film that has a fitting earthbound feel to it as well as a barely suppressed anger at crimes inflicted on the powerless |
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| (Dave Calhoun, Time Out) |
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| The film is one of the few capable of allowing its watchers to shed a tear and laugh within more or less the same sequence. |
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| (Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard) |
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| An ongoing, confounding delight of a film. |
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| (Xan Brooks, Guardian) |
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| Frears' film breaks your heart and then repairs it. |
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| (Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph) |
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| What makes Philomena so winning is the sophisticated way in which it condemns the behaviour of the Catholic Church without denigrating people of faith – a delicate tightrope act that has given plenty of more high-minded films vertigo. |
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| (Jamie Dunn, The Skinny) |
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, Steve Coogan 
