Movie · 2019 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 49m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.3/10 (28.1K ratings)
Disappearances can be deceiving
Overview
When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.3/10
IMDb: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 50%
Metacritic: 51
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Richard Linklater
Production
Annapurna Pictures, Color Force, Detour Filmproduction
Cast
Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, Emma Nelson, Troian Bellisario, James Urbaniak, Megan Mullally, Richard Robichaux, Kate Burton, Steve Zahn, David Paymer, Zoë Chao, Patrick Sebes, Lee Harrington, Patrick Jordan, Shaun Cameron Hall, Kathryn Feeney, Amy Rayko
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy but uneven dramedy with a strong central performance and an appealing offbeat streak. It’s worth watching if you like character-driven, lightly satirical stories about anxiety, reinvention, and family friction, but the film’s tonal wobble and rushed plotting keep it from fully landing.
Best for
Fans of Cate Blanchett-led character studies
Viewers who enjoy quirky, upper-middle-class dramedies
People who like gentle, bittersweet Richard Linklater films
Audiences drawn to stories about creative burnout and social anxiety
Skip if
You want a tightly structured or emotionally cathartic drama
You’re put off by polished studio comedy-drama with some awkward visual choices
You prefer films that stay consistently grounded or realistic
You need every supporting character and subplot to feel fully developed
Overview
Where’d You Go, Bernadette is the kind of movie that lives or dies on tone, and here it mostly survives on charm. Cate Blanchett gives Bernadette a brittle, funny, deeply defensive energy that keeps the film watchable even when the script feels like it’s sprinting to catch up with its own premise. The result is less a clean mystery than a portrait of a woman who has built a life around avoidance, then gets nudged toward re-entry.
Worth noting
Richard Linklater’s touch is present in the conversational rhythms and the affection for oddball human behavior, but this is also a more conventional studio dramedy than his best work. Some of the visual flourishes and explanatory detours feel clumsy, and the emotional beats don’t always accumulate with the grace they should. Still, the movie has a soft, melancholy pull, especially when it focuses on the family dynamics and the tension between genius, resentment, and domestic responsibility.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a flawed but amiable character study, it has enough wit and personality to recommend. If you want a sharper satire or a more moving family drama, it may leave you admiring the ingredients more than the finished dish.
Top Letterboxd reviews
leanne · 925 likes
Thought that was Anna wintour
maria (3★) · 760 likes
the DCU (Depression Cinematic Universe) sure is excellent
Karsten (2★) · 665 likes
I wouldn’t say I hate this. But the more I try and defend it the more I realize this was such an ugly and rushed execution to what could have been something touching. Like what is the Kevin Macleod type score accomplishing? Who allowed those “documentary” scenes to go on for as long as they did? It’s different! It’s interesting! Kinda? But the HIDEOUS end credits sequence was really the final twist of the knife. That bottom centered “Directed by Richard Linklater” SCREAMED that even he wanted this movie to just wrap itself up. Is a shitty visual aesthetic enough to ruin a movie? Apparently!
KYK (2.5★) · 596 likes
i’m obsessed with the terribly photoshopped video essay about cate blanchett
MJsays (3.5★) · 348 likes
Cate Blanchett with destructive social anxiety is my spirit animal.