The heartwarming fuzzy feelings that the genre is built on never take flight for Penguin Bloom.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 4, 2023

It follows a tried-and-true feel-good formula that hits the normal beats and ends right where you expect. Yet it still makes for good viewing because of the heart-warming true story and the wonderful performances that bring it to the screen.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 17, 2022

While the plot may be rote, the high level of craftsmanship keeps it engaging.

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

Penguin Bloom isn't much more than a collection of bog standard disability narrative tropes filtered partially through the lenses of the people surrounding the person affected.

| Jun 5, 2021

Naomi Watts carries on her shoulders an emotional drama of survival, adversity, and the nuances that a duel can have. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 17, 2021

The filmmakers -- director Glendyn Ivin and screenwriters Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps -- never go for a big gesture when a little one will do. Sometimes less IS more.

| Original Score: B | Apr 2, 2021

Penguin Bloom ramps up the obnoxious behavior early and gives us what I think is one of Watts' least interesting performances.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Feb 21, 2021

Watts puts in a film-lifting effort. The several exceptionally trained birds by her side all do too, vying with their high-profile co-star for the feature's best performance.

| Feb 21, 2021

Penguin Bloom makes for a solid and heartfelt movie, though the most memorable thing about it is simply covered in feathers. [Full review in Spanish]

| Feb 10, 2021

Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln bring this beautiful true story to life, set in stunning Australia.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 8, 2021

...a well-meaning life-lesson narrative wrapped up in ableist rhetoric and a sappy sheen.

| Feb 8, 2021

There is a quiet simplicity to the telling of this inspirational story which really resonated with me and Watts and House really bring home the bacon, elevating proceedings even more.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 5, 2021

There's a thin line between feel-good entertainment and hokum. While Penguin Bloom never quite slips into the latter, it comes awfully close.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 5, 2021

True story about trauma, grief is intense but uplifting.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 2, 2021

Two genuinely lovely performances elevate an often-simplistic tale in Penguin Bloom...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 2, 2021

Tragic and uplifting, Penguin Bloom overcomes unnecessary story elements to find emotional resonance.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 30, 2021

The characterization in Penguin Bloom feels too generic for its own good -- there's a curious distance that the film maintains while prodding at their inner lives.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 29, 2021

It's heavy on the treacle but moving, nonetheless.

| Jan 29, 2021

While it's all a bit on the nose, that nose will be running, and hankies coming.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 29, 2021

The story of struggle and survival, both human and avian, is predictable. Just as Penguin learns to take to the skies through trial and error, the film takes some wrong steps, but ultimately makes your spirit soar.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 29, 2021