A surprisingly touching and zany Kiwi adventure, Bookworm explores the magic of father-daughter bonding in the wilderness.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 30, 2024

Surprisingly impish, it’s an adventure comedy with more good moments than missteps.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 9, 2024

This is a shameless heartstring plucker. But it’s charming and sometimes very funny.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 6, 2024

This father-daughter excursion is 2024’s most charming family picture. Mothers will be envious.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 2, 2024

This is a movie where the quirk is cranked up to an eleven.

| Oct 24, 2024

Bookworm is a modest delight, with just enough alchemy of personality to overcome the speed bumps without ever threatening to become overbearingly treacly.

| Oct 21, 2024

Despite some charming performances, the script lacks magic.

| Oct 18, 2024

Boasting elements that parents and kids alike will adore, Bookworm is proof that the live-action, family-friendly adventure genre is still alive and kicking.

| Oct 18, 2024

For a film [about] a precocious child and a doofus adult off on a grand adventure, there’s little magical spark to Bookworm beyond the cursory, and not much humour to be found outside of cutting barbs thrown back and forth between daughter and father.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Oct 18, 2024

It sustains an innocent storybook tone throughout, thanks mainly to strong performances from its lead actors, Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher, and lush images of the New Zealand countryside.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 18, 2024

The story here presents a nice balance between its character work ... and its desire to present an old-fashioned adventure tale.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 18, 2024

A quirky and original (if slightly edgy) family film, Bookworm is an old-fashioned adventure with a relatable story of reconciliation and a great deal of eccentric charm.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 17, 2024

“Bookworm” has its charms, and a few turns of plot are welcome, but it’s not a lively examination of connection.

| Original Score: B- | Oct 16, 2024

Elijah Wood gives one of his best performances and is matched every step of the way and then some by Nell Fisher in this very charming and funny adventure tale from Ant Timpson that should engage all families.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 15, 2024

Although it loses some of its steam in the second half, Bookworm is a charming little family movie with two great lead performances.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 27, 2024

Ant Timpson’s heartwarming Bookworm is an effulgent love letter to ’80s kid cinema laced with a distinctly quirky, Kiwi dryness.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 27, 2024

Though "Bookworm" is, at times, an “as-expected” road trip dramedy, it’s where it shakes off the rote, well-worn path that it makes a powerful impression.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 22, 2024

Ant Timpson’s Bookworm is a small revelation. This New Zealand gem offers everything missing from today’s shallow family entertainment.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 19, 2024

This is great, emotive, and deeply funny stuff.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 2, 2024

Thoughtful, entertaining, humorous...

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 31, 2024