"An unexpected crowd-pleaser from a minimalist master."
— Peter Howell, Toronto Star
"An 81-minute film that’s as crisp and bittersweet as a late autumn breeze."
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire
"Aki Kaurismäki’s latest is deeply alert to the sensory pleasures of the world."
— Carson Lund, Slant Magazine
"Kaurismäki’s tonally perfect feature runs a compact 81 minutes and makes every second count."
— Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News
"Kaurismäki works magic with understatement, especially in Fallen Leaves, possibly his greatest film."
— Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
"Bone-dry yet filled with yearning, Aki Kaurismäki’s Finnish rom-com is a charming tale of persistence amid chaos."
— Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine
"‘Fallen Leaves’ is thoroughly entertaining, completely unpredictable and one of the best films I’ve seen this year"
— Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com
"Fallen Leaves is, for all its intended quietness, one of the most trenchant works about modern life to emerge in cinemas, post-pandemic."
— David Sims, The Atlantic
"Kaurismaki fashions a gentle, profound, hopeful cinematic gem about the human condition in Fallen Leaves that is of the times yet timeless."
— Namrata Joshi, The New Indian Express
"Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves, short, sweet and utterly delightful, is the kind of movie that’s so charming, you want to run it back the moment it’s over."
— Jake Coyle, Associated Press
"It's a wonderful film with not an ounce of fat on the bone, and Kaurismäki still managed to thread the needle between a style of ironic detachment and emotions that are big, bold and instantly affecting."
— David Jenkins, Little White Lies
"As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and maybe fall in love––but there is beauty in that simplicity and, as ever, Kaurismäki’s characters live far richer inner lives."
— Rory O'Connor, The Film Stage
"There’s life boiling under the simple surfaces, which is both Kaurismäki’s aesthetic mantra and his great theme. At their best, these quiet, cool films tear you to pieces. Fallen Leaves already feels like one of his signature works."
— Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture
"Fallen Leaves is consistently funny, but its laughs arrive without fanfare. They slide in calmly, at times obliquely in eccentric details, offbeat juxtapositions, taciturn exchanges, long pauses and amiably barbed insults."
— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"Fallen Leaves, though no radical departure for its maker nor a landmark of its medium, reminds us of a singular artistic personality, still vibrant after all these years. In a world of disasters large and small, surely that counts as consolation."
— Zachary Barnes, Wall Street Journal
"Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics."
— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
