Critic Reviews

The low-key charms of the coming-of-age story Holy Cow emerge gradually but steadily.

Holy Cow achieves its own special texture and flavor the more its central character boils, curdles and cools.

A moving and humorous coming-of-age story which is told with brio, avoiding the usual divots of social realism misery.

Powered along by youthful exuberance, earthy sex scenes and keen naturalism, Holy Cow is a box-office sensation in France, where it outperformed Anora and The Brutalist. The cinematographer Elio Balezeaux finds winning tableaux in dung, well-used farm equipment and sun-dappled pastures. An auspicious debut for everyone involved.

A heartwarming coming-of-age story about a raw boy slowly ripening to manhood, this impressively mature debut is earthy, compassionate and never too cheesy.

Holy Cow is sentimental in the best of ways, with its warmth and hope in human nature.

This coming-of-age tale from debut writer/director Louise Courvoisier features its fair share of darkness, but it’s shot through with compassion and humour. The film is a testament to resilience in the face of hardship, and a hymn to the Jura region where Courvoisier herself grew up.

The rhythms and structure of Holy Cow embody the swirling confusion and contradictions of adolescence itself.

Lovingly shot in warm natural light, and accompanied by a gentle, lilting soundtrack, Holy Cow is shot through with compassion for its rascally yet vulnerable protagonist.