Nowhere Special è finalmente approdato negli Stati Uniti, distribuito da Cohen Media, quasi quattro anni dopo la prima nel settembre 2020 alla Mostra cinematografica internazionale di Venezia. Il film uscì infatti in pieno Covid, e arrivò nelle sale cinematografiche del Regno Unito e di gran parte dell'Europa solo l'anno successivo, con un trascurabile sforzo pubblicitario e per lo più trascurato dalla critica. James Norton ottenne una candidatura al premio come miglior attore ai British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) del 2021, ma fu completamente ignorato dai BAFTA. Nel suo insieme, la critica era stata comunque favorevole al film e in particolare, James Norton e il piccolo Daniel Lamont erano stati lodati per la loro eccezionale interpretazione.
Finalmente la critica statunitense sta tributando al film e a James Norton tutto il plauso che meritano. Rottentomatoes attribuisce a Nowhere Special il 100% di critiche positive.
- Hollywood Reporter, 17 aprile 2024: ‘Nowhere Special’ Review: James Norton Brings Raw Feeling to Intimate Father-Son Drama di David Rooney - "The movie’s defining restraint is embodied in the depth and nuance of Norton’s characterization as John, a 34-year-old blue-collar Belfast resident who works as a window-cleaner, but more importantly, a loving single father, anxiously facing the most momentous decision of his life. [...] Norton skillfully conveys John’s efforts to maintain a façade of normalcy while his eyes reveal the interior struggle of his brooding thoughts on mortality, his diminishing strength and his son’s inevitable pain. At times, a barely concealed rage over the unfairness of his situation ripples just beneath the surface, an anger John works hard to contain, especially around Michael"
- The New York Times, 25 aprile 2024: Critic's Pick: ‘Nowhere Special’ Review: Old Bonds, New Family di Glenn Kenny - "Norton is spectacular, but little Lamont delivers one of those uncanny performances that doesn’t seem like acting, and makes you feel for the kid almost as much as his onscreen parent does".
- Indiewire, 25 aprile 2024: 'Nowhere Special' Review: Tender, Quiet Adoption Drama About a Dying 35-Year-Old Dad Will Absolutely Destroy You di Christian Blauvelt - "Cinematographer Marius Panduru never moves his camera for emphasis, nor does Pasolini — director of the melancholic Eddie Marsan vehicle “Still Life” — cut to heighten emotion. Either static or gently handheld, the camera doesn’t keep its distance either, getting in for close-ups of Norton’s face in particular as the finest grains of emotion slip through the strong facade he’s putting on for his son. Only a little piano from Andrew Simon McAllister’s wisp of a score puts any punctuation on some moments. [...] At the very least, “Nowhere Special” is one of the great father-son movies. There’s truth behind these tears".
- Variety, 26 aprile 2024: ‘Nowhere Special’ Review: Understated Terminal Illness Drama Earns Your Tears di Tomris Laffly - "Much of that journey surely rests on the shoulders of the terrific Norton (Happy Valley, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women) and Lamont, who jointly give heartrending performances as characters navigating an unbearable situation. Since actors as young as Lamont can only be only as good as the adults holding their hand, Norton and Pasolini both prove they know how to tap into a child performer’s capabilities with care and compassion".
- Deadline, 26 aprile 2024: ‘Nowhere Special’ Review: James Norton Is Superb In Father-And-Son Drama That Won’t Leave A Dry Eye In The House di Pete Hammond - "Pasolini has a splendid cast to help tell this sad but oddly hopeful story starting with Norton (Bob Marley: One Love, Little Women), who was nominated for a British Independent Film Award as Best Actor for the role and delivers a poignant and heartbreaking performance as a good father whose last act is to find a happy place for his son, and then to simply let go. No easy task. Norton is brilliant in letting us see it all unfold without saying much at all".
- Boston Globe, 1 maggio 2024: ‘Nowhere Special’: a deeply felt father-and-son story about life, death, and parental love di Odie Henderson - “'Nowhere Special' doesn’t sugarcoat its heartbreaking premise. The film is essentially a two-hander between Norton and Lamont, both of whom give excellent, complementary performances. They feel like father and son from first frame to last."
- Boston Herald, 1 maggio 2024: James Norton takes on death & fatherhood in ‘Nowhere Special’ di Stephen Shaefer - "There is plenty that is special about the Irish “Nowhere Special.”
- Observer, 3 maggio 2024: ‘Nowhere Special’ Is a Thoughtful Tearjerker Without the Sobbing Histrionics di Rex Reed - "The film—produced, written and directed by Uberto Pasolini—is a triumph of sensitivity, humanity and good taste that manages to admirably transcend every tendency inherent to the usual label of 'tearjerker.' The thick Irish brogues make hearing the dialogue an occasional strain, but the two British co-stars—acclaimed actor James Norton and pint-sized newcomer Daniel Lamont—are so human and real that you eagerly follow everything they do and say anyway. This is a quiet, thoughtful film with direction that takes its time revealing character honestly and clocking motivations realistically—with a welcome absence of sobbing histrionics."
