The Way Way Back (2013)

Name: The Way Way Back
Director: Jim Rash
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2013
Duration: 103 min

"We've all been there."

ThumbScore

👍 68%Google users liked it ⓘ

Critics Score

🎬 76% (RT: 83%, MC: 68)

ComedyDrama

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Director

Jim Rash, Nat Faxon

Runtime

1h 43m

Country

United States of America

Language

English

TMDB Rating

7.1/10 (1,906 votes)

Rotten Tomatoes

83%

Metacritic

Cast

Liam James as Duncan · 70% avg

Steve Carell as Trent Ramsey · 71% avg

Toni Collette as Pam · 68% avg

AnnaSophia Robb as Susanna Thompson · 67% avg

Sam Rockwell as Owen · 70% avg

Allison Janney as Betty Thompson · 69% avg

Maya Rudolph as Caitlyn · 69% avg

Amanda Peet as Joan · 69% avg

Is The Way Way Back good?

It's divisive. Only 68% of audiences liked it, by Google's archived audience score. Critics agree, scoring it 76%.

Where it ranks on ThumbScore

Rank in its genre

#1956 / 2672 · Comedy

Rank in its year

#180 / 277 · 2013

By audience score, among films with 500 or more votes.

Overview

Shy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park. Wikipedia ↗

Reviews

ThumbScoreReview · 94/100 · 2026-10-19

Was such a good message and very heart warming. At first I thought it wasn't super funny but then I started to see the characters develop more and start to really like their various personalities. I loved the cast and the choice in non-typical characters. The message was great and was very moving at the end. I felt like it really came together at the end.