What They Had Reviews
Writer/director Elizabeth Chomko's first film is remarkably assured and beautifully performed, richly human, and deeply moving.
| Nov 23, 2021
Terrific performances and an authentic portrait of a heartbreaking illness mark the touching drama What They Had.
| Mar 23, 2020
This middling snoozefest demonstrates that good performances, a plausible story line, and relatable emotional content are not enough to make a movie interesting.
| Feb 29, 2020
It had moments of truth in it, but I didn't think that as a film it was particularly effective.
| Mar 5, 2019
The script, inspired by Chomko's grandparents' marriage, throws up plenty of authentic-looking observations of life with Alzheimer's.
| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 28, 2019
An affecting drama propped up by unexpected and humanizing moments of comedy.
| Original Score: B+ | Nov 9, 2018
Too many characters, who all have problems that need solving, stretch the limits of the story and push it beyond its comfort zone. Nevertheless, when the family dynamics are going strong, What They Had is an ensemble piece that hits the bull's-eye.
| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 9, 2018
The movie manages to avoid nearly every "family dealing with illness" cliché one could ever imagine.
| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 31, 2018
There's an inherent longing in Elizabeth Chomko's stunning feature debut, What They Had.
| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 30, 2018
Blythe Danner does a remarkable job of conveying Ruth's irreversible path into total memory loss without turning her into a movie-of-the-week cliché.
| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 26, 2018
You may feel as if you've seen this movie before: Ruth has Alzheimer's, her husband Burt is in denial and their grown children Nick and Bridget are at odds. But please, trust me, you haven't...
| Oct 26, 2018
What sets the film apart is the literate and insightful script by Elizabeth Chomko, who also directs, and a cast of stellar performers.
| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 26, 2018
One of the year's best indie dramas, one that should hit home with a wide range of viewers sure to relate to the achingly authentic family dynamics on display.
| Oct 25, 2018
The quality of the actors and emotional potency of the subject keep "What They Had" from being a completely wasted effort. But the script makes it a close call.
| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 25, 2018
"What They Had" is mostly talk... and loud, aggrieved talk that approximates the experiences of many families in this situation while rarely convincing us of what this family is experiencing.
| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 25, 2018
It's an actors' feast, and a genuine calling card for Chomko, primarily an actress (a strong one) before "What They Had," but now very much a writer-director coming into her own.
| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2018
What works best here comes between the movie's heavy opening and its lightweight conclusion.
| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 23, 2018
"What They Had"... achieves a delicate balance of tone, finding the humor in the irrepressibly sad, the love in daily toil, the soul in a disease that seeks to obliterate it.
| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 23, 2018
What They Had gracefully coasts on its patient observations of one family's dynamics, but once the third act hits, Elizabeth Chomko goes about neatly tidying up seemingly every loose end.
| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 22, 2018
Yet the cast is exceptional, the performances are extraordinary, the writing and direction are heartfelt, and the film is, consequently, stirring, frequently funny and consistently affecting.
| Oct 19, 2018