Synopsis
After years of caring exclusively for the needs of her husband and children, Agnes, a devoted housewife living in a small town near New York, has found something she really enjoys doing: solving puzzles.
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Cast
- Kelly MacdonaldAgnes
- Irrfan KhanRobert
- David DenmanLouie
- Daniel Stewart ShermanRonnie
- Austin AbramsGabe
- Bubba WeilerZiggy
- Helen CoxeEzster
- Mandela BellamyGrocery Clerk
- Liv HewsonNicki
- Lori HammelFanny
Recommendations
- 91
The Playlist
Turtletaub does have a hard time finding a way to conclude Agnes’ story, but he ends Puzzle on such a delightful note of simplicity, that this near-perfect movie nevertheless stuns. - 83
IndieWire
Puzzle toes a tough line, managing to stay relentlessly good-hearted and deeply humane, even as Agnes herself plunges into deeper, more dramatic waters. It’s the kind of mid-life crisis story that so rarely centers on a woman and Macdonald shines in the role, riveting even in the quietest of moments. - 80
Screen Daily
It’s a testament to Macdonald’s performance (and later, to Khan’s charm) that we share her passion for puzzling. - 75
The Film Stage
An earnest, clear-cut drama about the struggle for one woman’s liberation from the shackles of domesticity, Puzzle does what it sets out to do remarkably well. - 75
Movie Nation
Thanks to its most engaging, sympathetic stars, even the over-familiar path it takes lets us find the warmth in the predictable first steps its characters take toward a richer life. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
This directing debut for experienced producer Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshine, Loving) ticks along pleasantly, driven by an efficient if slightly bland script by Oren Moverman and Polly Mann. - 60
Variety
We should be grateful that it exists, if only because it affords a long-overdue leading role to Kelly Macdonald. - 50
Slant Magazine
The film buoyed by Kelly Macdonald, who's a master of understated vulnerability, but she can't steer it out of the doldrums.
