While Eisenberg’s debut is imperfect, When You Finish Saving the World shows promise. Eisenberg exceeds the expectations for the kinds of stories he wants to tell in this feature. Yet, he will find more success by trusting his audiences.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 2, 2024

It plays like a vignette or short story that would work better as a novel, and its characters lack the depth and sharply drawn wit to render them wholly believable.

Full Review | Apr 1, 2024

A solid first outing from Jesse Eisenberg that captures the awkward divide between a Mother & her Son! Moore & Wolfhard are GREAT & Emilie Misseri’s score is easily the best thing of the entire film. It’s exactly what I expected from Jesse.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World isn’t necessarily as inventive, awkwardly funny, and sharp as it aspires to be (especially in the line of similar A24 movies), but it offers a thought-provoking story and a solid debut from Eisenberg as a filmmaker.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World shows Jesse Eisenberg's solid attributes as a first-time director, but the unrewarding story led by two unbearable protagonists makes it a difficult watch. The third act needed a more impactful, less subtle conclusion.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jul 23, 2023

Although Eisenberg’s debut may not be utterly world-changing with its eager but half-done approach to moderately dysfunctional families, it does show promise for the actor-turned-filmmaker.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 23, 2023

It is a strange but satisfying black comedy, an exceptionally on-target character study, and incidentally, an excellent film for parents and adult children to watch together.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 13, 2023

It's a very staged-looking and dull dramedy about privileged and entitled people trying to make themselves look socially conscious. The movie's tone starts off as cynical and ends in a sentimental way that looks phony and unearned.

Full Review | Feb 18, 2023

When you finish with that, save us from the paces of having to spend another moment with any of these characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Feb 16, 2023

It could have been a sharper film, but I give it props... A nice little starter project [for Jesse Eisenberg].

Full Review | Feb 11, 2023

Sub-Noah Baumbach... It's as good as anything I've seen this week, and that's a very low standard.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2023

It’s an odd film, which appears to be confronting and satirizing a political moment from a very different time.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 10, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World is simple, relatable, and delivers dynamic performances that never aim to be more than just real people.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 3, 2023

It’s a solid first feature, brimming with ideas but not always able to communicate those clearly. Still, I admire the hustle.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World is not good. It’s not terrible, but I felt every one of its eighty-eight minutes keenly, struggling the entire time to get invested in any part of its meandering story or in any one of its unengaging characters.

Full Review | Jan 30, 2023

Eisenberg's screenplay is a quiet wonder, not so much a work of perfection but a work of messy honesty.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Jan 28, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World is an awkward yet rewarding film, capturing how people can live under the same roof, be miles apart, and how we can navigate bringing people back together.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 28, 2023

While I expected a little more from When You Finish Saving the World, it still ends up succeeding thanks to its main leads and an accompanying score that brilliantly matches the project.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2023

The film’s charms rest squarely on the shoulders of Moore and Wolfhard, who are thankfully up to the task.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 27, 2023

When You Finish Saving the World is a solid family drama that isn’t heavy-handed. It’s a promising debut film for Jesse Eisenberg but it’s also not fantastic either.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jan 27, 2023