92
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100BBCBBCDavid Lean ably directed Noel Coward's script for this intensely passionate film in which almost nothing happens.
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe film is thrillingly, unapologetically about decency and honour, about, as Laura heartrendingly puts it, controlling oneself.
- 100Time OutTom HuddlestonTime OutTom HuddlestonDavid Lean's wondrous romance, adapted from Noel Coward's story, is one of the most emotionally devastating movies of all time.
- 100The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsEncounter remains the definition of timeless, a beautifully shot, heartbreakingly acted, minutely detailed illustration of thoroughly recognizable human frailty.
- 100LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenLarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenShockingly modern in sensibility, construction, and execution, Brief Encounter is very different from what one thinks of as a David Lean movie, whose historical epics have come to define posh, mid-century, cinematic excellence.
- Director David Lean’s magnificent rendering of the short, passionate, and unconsummated affair between two middle-class, middle-aged Brits remains the most memorable treatment of extramarital romance in movie history.
- 90The New York TimesBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesBosley CrowtherAn uncommonly good little picture.
- 80CineVueAllie GemmillCineVueAllie GemmillWe rarely see films that are so loaded in meaning and symbolism yet subdued in action. It’s a treat to be sure, one that can be relished seventy years on with renewed fervour.
- 60Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderSurvives more as a social document than a genuinely compelling drama.