“How to Build a Girl” has a lot going on in its favour. It may perhaps be a bit overstuffed for some tastes, but its heart is consistently in the right place in spite of this.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 14, 2024

Feldstein has proven to be a master of the genre and How to Build a Girl is worth watching for her performance alone.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 17, 2023

For a film where the central character has to develop a unique voice in order to stand out, the final product is crushingly formulaic... The result is a movie that resembles an album of terrible cover versions of your favourite songs.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 12, 2022

How To Build A Girl is a charming, funny, raunchy, even sweet coming-of-age tale

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

Even in the film’s busier, messier moments, Feldstein is always highly watchable, and more importantly, relatable.

| Original Score: 7/10 | May 13, 2022

Fast and fun, it features a great lead performance from Feldstein.

| Aug 10, 2021

Feldstein, who made big strides with her parts in Lady Bird and Booksmart, is as winning as ever here.

| Feb 12, 2021

Feldstein's performance is outstanding and another indicator that she is a treasure. [Full review in Spanish]

| Jan 22, 2021

Feldstein's charms are brilliantly weaponised here.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 9, 2020

The strong, distinctive, individual voice you keep hoping to hear never breaks through.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 22, 2020

It's not subtle, but How to Build a Girl shouldn't be a quiet movie; it's as loud and full of life as its central character ...

| Original Score: B | Nov 16, 2020

That sense of goodwill around television veteran Coky Giedroyc's comedy is certain to apply to even the most hard-hearted viewer.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2020

There's not enough here to register as more than occasionally diverting, and so How to Build a Girl ends up falling apart.

| Sep 14, 2020

Several individual sequences really sparkle, but the life lessons are awfully overfamiliar and the quirkiness is exceedingly twee.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 22, 2020

The film doesn't dig very deep, but it is big-hearted fun, with a protagonist you'll love.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2020

With a lesser cast, I may have forgiven its broad sensibilities, but its complete waste of an exceptionally talented troupe of actors feels unforgivable.

| Aug 19, 2020

A charming, light-footed comedy about the awkwardness of being a teenage girl - especially of a creative bent.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 1, 2020

Johanna may be wise, but the film never puts her on a pedestal.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 27, 2020

[An] entertainingly ramshackle coming-of-age story, adapted by screenwriter Caitlin Moran from her autobiographically inspired bestseller.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 26, 2020

It's a great story and Beanie Feldstein as the Caitlin character is one of the best casting moments of the year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 24, 2020