67
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerIt's a movie that could easily have been made 50 years ago, and I don't mean that as a knock. There is much to be said for a film that values unflashy craft and simple, unhurried storytelling.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterA polished, finely acted tale of love and class in the south of France.
- 80NPRElla TaylorNPRElla TaylorThe Well-Digger's Daughter offers a fervent poem to the region's abundant beauty.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe Well-Digger's Daughter pushes a number of nostalgia buttons at once, most of them pleasing.
- 63Slant MagazineBill WeberSlant MagazineBill WeberUltimately comes off as curiously anecdotal, lacking the dramatic dynamism that could give Marcel Pagnol's tale new life.
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithLike Provence itself, Auteuil is in no hurry to get anywhere, reveling instead in the southern region's brilliant light and whispering crickets. His tangy accent and evident fondness for his character make the picture enjoyable enough as it plods along, and the final act wraps things up on a fulfilling note.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceStirrings of dignified outrage via the eponymous well-digger eventually go a long way toward energizing the film, which improves markedly once it shifts its focus from the World War I–era milieu toward how quickly a naive young girl can turn into a fallen woman and the ways in which that fallout affects her father, her family, and apparently most importantly, her name.
- 40Time OutEric HynesTime OutEric HynesBergès-Frisbey and Duvauchelle make for a deliciously ripe pair - their cheekbones defy both gravity and sound facial architecture - but Auteuil is less interested in young lust than old world values.
- 40The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisThere are times in The Well-Digger's Daughter, a once-upon-a-time French film about love, family and the seductive beauty of the Provençal countryside, when the story's sweetness nearly makes your teeth ache.