Critical response Matthew Joseph Jenner from the
International Cinephile Society called it "one of the year’s most lovely, gentle films”, awarding it 4 stars out of 5. Matt Zoller Seitz of
RogerEbert.com wrote "The constant through all of Jarmusch’s work is an attentiveness to narrative and visual storytelling that most other filmmakers avoid or just never include. It’s unsettling, in a way—as if the normal experience of moviegoing has been turned inside-out. You may be left cold, feeling that you’ve seen a theoretical exercise whose purpose was never articulated. Or you may react [...]"
Richard Brody of
The New Yorker wrote "despite the scope of the film’s implications, despite its clarity, cleverness, and contemplative splendor, “Father Mother Sister Brother” is a minor achievement, a wise and empathetic divertimento—frank and straightforward, tonally moderate, technically undemanding, neither enraged nor outrageous. With the film’s relative modesty, Jarmusch is tuning up—while also retuning the world of cinema, its critics and its viewers, to his own distinctive note and preparing them for his higher harmonics to come." Ben Kenigsberg of
The New York Times wrote "
Father Mother Sister Brother isn’t a culminating achievement, not least compared to
Paterson (2016) less than a decade ago. Mellow even by Jarmusch standards, the new film finds the writer-director returning to his familiar anthology mode. It combines the triptych structure of
Mystery Train (1989), in which three disparate sets of characters crossed paths at a fleabag hotel in Memphis, and the globe-hopping conceit of
Night on Earth (1991), which observed five cab rides in five cities."
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian wrote "there is a contentment and calm here, an acceptance and a Zen simplicity that is a cleansing of the moviegoing palate, or perhaps the fiction-consuming palate in general. It is a film to savour."
Bilge Ebiri of
Vulture wrote "
Father Mother Sister Brother is a simple, quiet movie, one that works the mundane in ways that might remind one of such Jarmusch masterpieces as
Paterson (2016) and maybe even
Stranger Than Paradise (1984), though it’s much more stripped down and oblique." Casey Epstein-Gross of
Paste wrote "Jarmusch’s precision is as sharp as ever in this empathetic triptych, but the life inside it feels diagrammed rather than lived." Tim Grierson of
Los Angeles Times wrote "The movie glides by so unassumingly, you may be stunned how moved you are by the end." David Rooney of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote "This is a unique portrait of families and their foibles, both amusing and annoying, superbly acted by an exceptional cast fully inhabiting their characters [...] Like
Paterson, it’s a film whose simplicity, sweetness and unvarnished ordinariness make it seem almost a miracle." Jessica Kiang of
Variety wrote "Jarmusch gets to extend his quick, quiet interest and his compassion, in both directions, to the older and the younger generation, at once. But it also sets up the gently gorgeous “Father Mother Sister Brother” to alight on the surprisingly practicable conclusion that, aside from loving and raising them the best you can, maybe the most rewarding thing you can do for your kids is bequeath to them a bunch of little secrets that hint at the richness of the life you lived out of their sight." Nicolas Rapold of
Sight and Sound stated "What Jarmusch has called his “quiet film” speaks with clarity as one from the heart." Keith Uhlich of
Slant Magazine wrote "Of all the recurrences in
Father Mother Sister Brother, this one feels especially key to unpacking the intentions of its creator. Watching a Jarmusch film can be like gazing upon a madman’s conspiracy board, which to those not on board with all the laconic lyricism can be exasperating. But get on the wavelength and it’s as if you’ve gained entry into a secret society—one that sees through the despairing illusions of existence to the blissfully beating heart beneath." Ryan Lattanzio of
IndieWire wrote "
Father Mother Sister Brother is about as dry as a physical copy of short stories you’ve loved since you were a child. There are no protagonists or antagonists, just people moving through life, Jarmusch catching moments of them the way that David Lynch once caught ideas like fish moving down a stream. This is a movie Lynch would’ve admired, brittly funny and content to linger in doorways and thresholds for as long as it takes until somebody breaks the awkward silence." Zachary Barnes of
The Wall Street Journal wrote "though,
Father Mother Sister Brother is no doubt true enough to many a family gathering this Christmas—awkward, amusing, a bit dissatisfying, but not a disaster. Sometimes that’s reason enough to call for a toast." Phil de Semiyen of
Time Out wrote "Not top tier Jarmusch, but still a funny, soulful anthology worth seeking out."
Accolades ==References==