The Fabelmans

2022

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 65 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 117 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 117 Ratings

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The Fabelmans

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 11, 2022

Starring: Gabriel Bateman, Gabriel LaBelle, Judd Hirsch, Julia Butters, Michelle Williams, Nicolas Cantu, Oakes Fegley, Paul Dano, Sam Rechner, Seth Rogen

Movie Facts:

Received seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. See all awards and nominations.
Winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Summary: The Fabelmans are 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), his artistic mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams), and his successful, scientific father Burt (Paul Dano), and his younger sisters.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre(s): Drama

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Critic Reviews

100

The Telegraph Robbie Collin

Jan 26, 2023

The thing about Spielberg these days is he makes this stuff look easy. Read full review

100

Todd Gilchrist

Nov 10, 2022

The Fabelmans is a measured and incredibly intimate look at Spielberg’s upbringing as he developed his aptitude for storytelling through a medium that mesmerized him since the night he went to see The Greatest Show On Earth as a child. It also spotlights cinema as an extraordinary device that not only unveils powerful truths, but often shapes them as well. Read full review

Michael Talbot-Haynes

Dec 23, 2022

The Fabelmans will take your expectations of the Spielberg brand and tie them to a rocket. It is engaging and compelling. I am still pondering it days later. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to catch this on that same big screen that Sammy loves so much. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Sep 11, 2022

I’d say this playful yet nakedly personal coming-of-auteur epic was trying to split the difference between memoir and crowdpleaser, but it seems even more determined to reconcile the two: What else would Steven Spielberg’s ultimate divorce movie be about if not the hope for some kind of reconciliation? Read full review

Anthony Lane

Nov 14, 2022

The Fabelmans may look nice ’n’ easy as it swings along, with a pile of laughs to cushion the ride, and a nifty visual gag in the closing seconds, but take care. Here is a film that is touched with the madness of love. Read full review

Brian Truitt

Nov 22, 2022

Unsurprisingly, Spielbergian wonder is sprinkled throughout the episodic Fabelmans. The movie starts out slow, though when the filmmaker gets to Sammy’s high school days, he finds that signature electricity so apparent in his blockbuster career. Read full review

Sara Merican

Jan 25, 2023

As this semi-autobiographical film plods on, there is an unshakeable sense that in reaching for the stars, The Fabelmans instead lands somewhere more mediocre and disappointing. Read full review

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User Reviews

xaviersanchez04

Nov 11, 2022

Um dos melhores filmes de Steven Spielberg que já vi.
Espero que muitas pessoas vejam porque é um luxo audiovisual que n?o pode faltar.

4 of 8 users found this helpful44

ArtK

Nov 24, 2022

While it starts a bit slow, I loved this film (and the acting was top notch from everyone). As usual, Spielberg adds so many nuances - and an extraordinary amount of heart. The final shot was a stunner.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Rpppp

Jan 30, 2023

It was a beautiful portrait of Spielberg’s relationships with his mother and father. And resonated so strong with me in my relationships. The simplicity and expert execution together were really inspiring.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

LisaLR1

Jan 29, 2023

THE FABELMANS, a semi-autobiographical account of the film's director, Steven Spielberg's childhood years, co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, stars Gabriel LaBelle as the young, budding filmmaker Sammy Fabelman. Sammy's hesitant, yet supportive parents, Mitzi and Burt Fabelman areTHE FABELMANS, a semi-autobiographical account of the film's director, Steven Spielberg's childhood years, co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, stars Gabriel LaBelle as the young, budding filmmaker Sammy Fabelman. Sammy's hesitant, yet supportive parents, Mitzi and Burt Fabelman are played by the luminous Michelle Williams and the convincing Paul Dano. Also in the film, Judd Hirsch making a short but memorable appearance in his recent Best Supporting Actor Oscar-nominated performance as Sammy's cantankerous Uncle Boris. Spielberg pays homage to the wonders and realities of youth, dreams and love of cinema seen through the eyes of Sammy whose early life witnesses his mother's unrealized musical aspirations, his father's multiple job changes resulting in the Fabelmans various moves from state-to-state, and the ultimate breakup of his family following his parents divorce. All this going on while Sammy realizes and begins to nurture his own artistic talents for filmmaking. A highlight of the movie is an almost unrecognizable David Lynch who appears at the climax of the film as Iconic director John Ford who talks to Sammy about the importance of horizon in good filmmaking. Steven Spielberg is one of the great directors who is blessed with a true gift for storytelling and he accomplishes this, again with THE FABELMANS. You may recognize his abiding love for Indiana Jones in this film through the character of a handsome, tough on the outside, flawed on the inside high school track star, caught on camera on Ditch Day by 18 year old Sammy Fabelman. It's obvious Steven Spielberg never forgot him.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

nnogohko

Jan 6, 2023

The Fabelmans is one of my favorite movies of the year even though I don't think it is one of Steven Spielberg's best work. Spielberg obviously made this movie with care since it is about his childhood and that care I think really shows in the final product. The performances are reallyThe Fabelmans is one of my favorite movies of the year even though I don't think it is one of Steven Spielberg's best work. Spielberg obviously made this movie with care since it is about his childhood and that care I think really shows in the final product. The performances are really strong especially Gabriel LaBelle and Paul Dano. The Mitzi dance scene is one of my favorite scenes this year. I think the coming age of story is pretty standard but I think there is always interesting going on with the characters so I didn't mind. I just wish it dove a little deeper to the darker side of his complex relationships with his parents since it gets kind of abandoned in the latter half of the movie. John William's final score for Spielberg is emotional and really wonderful. Overall, I really like the movie but I wish I could have seen the more darker sides to the certain events that happen in the film since almost everything is conveyed so optimistically.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

davemelbourne58

Nov 27, 2022

Some great scenes for what I'm sure was Spielberg's passion project about his love of movies, and dealing with the fallout of his parents divorce. I would have loved this movie more if it had been trimmed down

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

RealestReal

Feb 1, 2023

Remember when Shamalayan wrote himself into "Lady In the Water" as a genius writer who writes a book to save humanity? It was deemed a self-indulgent, pretentious cringefest and this film is no different. This film is extremely awkward to watch: the subtext being in every scene: "woe isRemember when Shamalayan wrote himself into "Lady In the Water" as a genius writer who writes a book to save humanity? It was deemed a self-indulgent, pretentious cringefest and this film is no different. This film is extremely awkward to watch: the subtext being in every scene: "woe is me...I couldn't film this boo hoo". It's first world problems presented as a "difficult" childhood. Give me a break...such saccharine trash.Make a movie about Kubrick's life - now that's a director who broke conventions and worth a biopic.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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25	#25 Best Movie of 2022
57	#57 Most Discussed Movie of 2022