75
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- By the end of Microbe & Gasoline, we feel a little closer to the boy who made the man behind the camera as a result.
- 90The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenTime and again, Microbe and Gasoline risks cuteness without going overboard. Too easily taken for granted, its accomplishment is its ability to gaze steadily with warmth but minimal sentimentality at the world through unjaded 14-year-old eyes.
- 83The PlaylistNick SchagerThe PlaylistNick SchagerBuoyed by a script brimming with authentic back-and-forth ribbing and confessional exchanges, newcomers Baquet and Dargent exhibit an alternately ribald and frank rapport that, like the film itself, taps into the volatile anxiety of finding one’s self.
- 80Time OutDavid EhrlichTime OutDavid EhrlichFrom its mundane beginnings to its melancholy closing grace note, Microbe and Gasoline is such a wonderfully touching film because it remembers the urgency of wanting to get older without growing up.
- 80The GuardianLeslie FelperinThe GuardianLeslie FelperinIf this film were a person, you’d want to give it a big hug, as you would a gawky teenager, and reassure it that it will be tough out there, that not everyone is going to get its idiosyncratic charms, but that’s OK because it’s awesome just the way it is.
- 75Slant MagazineEd GonzalezSlant MagazineEd GonzalezMicrobe and Gasoline is enervating for both relishing whimsy and looking behind it to absorb the yearnings of youth and its attendant complications in all their nakedness.
- 75IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandAt nearly 105 minutes, Microbe and Gasoline runs out of steam in its second act, but the majority of this sweet, sensitive ride is a real treat.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThere’s a carefree spirit about everything that happens, including all the talk about girls and masturbation, that makes the story as breezy as the summer air,
- 70VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeWith Microbe and Gasoline, the French writer-director has wisely restrained his usual flourishes, allowing the two teenage leads in his relatively calm summer-vacation coming-of-age comedy to assume centerstage, imbuing them with creative agency rather than forcing them to compete with the film’s own style.
- 67The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyCutesy title notwithstanding, Microbe And Gasoline stands as one of director Michel Gondry’s most restrained works.