Netflix’s ‘Dumplin’ Is ‘Fresh’ According to Rotten Tomatoes Reviewers

Netflix’s Dolly Parton-inspired film Dumplin is Certified Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes reviewers.

The heartfelt coming-of-age comedy launched on Dec. 7, and is already being highly praised by fans and critics alike, as evident by its 78 percent Fresh critics score and 84 percent Fresh audience score on the film-review-aggregator site.

“Elevated by a solid soundtrack and a terrific cast, Dumplin’ offers sweetly uplifting drama that adds just enough new ingredients to a reliably comforting formula,” the films Critics Consensus reads.

Dumplin stars Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$, Bird Box) as Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson, a plus-sized teen whose mother Rosie (Jennifer Aniston) is a Texas beauty queen with small-town fame.

The film follows Willowdean and her best friend Ellen ‘El’ Dryver (Odeya Rush) as they navigate the tumultuous waters of high school and social lives, while also pursuing beauty pageant dreams for very different reasons.

“There’s so much more to enjoy, from the nuanced work by Jennifer Aniston that ensures Rosie’s never a caricature of a pageant mom; to the warm and natural best-buddy chemistry between Danielle MacDonald and Odeya Rush,” iconic film critic Richard Roeper wrote of the film.

“Dumplin has pretty much made its point about acceptance and tolerance, in the kind of polished feel-good movie that comes wrapped up in a very familiar coat, indeed,” CNN’s Brian Lowry added.

“A lovely movie that warmly embraces a wide(ish) range of girls-and-women-as-people, one that doesn’t reduce its large heroine – the amazing Danielle Macdonald – to nothing more than her size,” MaryAnn Johanson, from Flick Filosopher said. “This should not feel so damn radical, but it is.”

While most have been overwhelmingly positive about the film, there have been a small handful of critics who were not as impressed.

“Director Anne Fletcher aims for the tear ducts, directing for maximum anguish, righteousness and/or schmaltz, and much of the Dumplin message arrives with postage due,” said Wall Street Journal critic John Anderson.

Slate’s Inkoo Kang also did not find the film enjoyable, calling it “a movie so lifeless you’d have more fun guessing the Netflix niche group that the production is supposed to satisfy.”

Dumplin’ is now available to stream on Netflix.