Zoé Wittock gave herself an incredibly tough task when making this her feature directorial and writing debut.

| Original Score: B | Mar 1, 2024

Belgian director Zoé Wittock’s debut Jumbo tells a bizarre tale. Jeanne Tantois (Noémie Merlant) is a shy and “special” young woman who falls in love with the machine she names Jumbo.

| Jan 23, 2023

Objectophilia, romantic desire for inanimate things, occurs in reality, but we learn nothing about it here.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 6, 2022

The film may strive for a message of tolerance and acceptance but it is let down by rushed and unsatisfying conclusion... like a theme park ride that has a fantastic build up but then the actual ride is over too quickly and ultimately a disappointment.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 12, 2022

French director Zoé Wittock makes her feature debut with this sensitive romantic fantasy about a socially unacceptable love affair.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 14, 2021

This would have been an ideal Valentine's Day viewing, and anyone who dug the Spike Jonze film Her should absolutely check this out - it's weird and sweet and filled with kindness.

| Sep 9, 2021

Well worth paying your money and taking the ride.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 23, 2021

Despite all the sexual overtones, there's a purity to the relationship that harks back to all those 1980s Spielbergian coming-of-age fantasies involving outsiders bonding with aliens or robots.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 15, 2021

Even if feels somewhat random, the film refreshingly rejects the word "normal".

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 15, 2021

There's enough of a spark in Jumbo to make the film a very lively ride.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 13, 2021

It's a little like Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in which a person's world is suddenly torn apart by an unexplained but intense attraction to some flashing lights in the sky.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 10, 2021

Wittock is an exciting new talent to watch, and Merlant spins something potentially laughable into a rollercoaster - or at least, waltzer - ride of emotions.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 10, 2021

a classic coming-out (as well as coming of age, and just plain coming) narrative, allegorising both the rejection and acceptance faced by anyone whose erotic interests do not adhere to narrowly conventional expectations.

| Jul 8, 2021

Undoubtedly an unusual love story, but intelligent filmmaking and a great performance from Noemie Merlant make it both credible and strangely affecting.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 6, 2021

From Jumbo's stylish opening shot to its English rock soundtrack and delirious, hilarious finale, [filmmaker Zoe] Whittock's tale is an oddball charmer that will steal your heart.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 23, 2021

The script's attention is too divided and does little to otherwise elevate the material, resulting in a film that is overwhelmed by its own possibility.

| Jun 6, 2021

Merlant's writhing, fainting spells and intense gaze do well to communicate the intensity of desire and, although the film can sometimes be a dizzying attraction to climb on, Jumbo is certainly worth the ride.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Mar 18, 2021

Noémie Merlant shines in Jumbo, an impressively unique modern fable exploring sexuality and rare connections.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 11, 2021

There's no denying that the debut feature from Zoé Wittock is shot beautifully, with the hypnotic light show that Jumbo produces luring you into its spider-like embrace.

| Mar 5, 2021

It's a far from perfect film, but it's a lot better than the critical consensus suggests, and at the heart of it is a fascinating character study.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 4, 2021