Messrs. Ballard and Palahniuk employed such subcultures in their novels as metaphors to satirize consumerism and modernity. But in “Quid Pro Quo,” the cult of the wannabe disabled doesn’t stand for anything else.

| Apr 21, 2023

An enthralling, erotically charged drama that marks the terrific debut of a director that is most certainly a talent to watch.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 6, 2019

The film, intimately shot, sidesteps exploitative potential, and the finely tuned screenplay obscures its titular theme (colloquially translated "tit for tat") in multiple layers of narrative and a hit of noir.

| Apr 12, 2016

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 17, 2011

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 15, 2011

In fact, "Quid Pro Quo" is not at all funny, merely occasionally sarcastic, its plot a succession of half-baked pop-psych speculations and its dialogue a glib sampling of sub-Diablo Cody incredibility

| Aug 8, 2009

Strikingly original and spectacularly twisted, Quid Pro Quo is a gem. Two outstanding performances from Nick Stahl and Vera Farmiga provide riveting viewing

| Oct 18, 2008

Its biggest mystery is how it was financed (by Texas trillionaire and Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban, no less) and selected for distribution.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Oct 18, 2008

has the best "middle" I've seen in a long time

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 13, 2008

By far the movie's strong suit is Farmiga, who gives an astonishingly layered performance,

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 2, 2008

Very deftly made, with some lovely cinematography and two quirky, engaging lead performances, it's a satisfying debut.

Full Review | Jun 20, 2008

An outsider adventure strictly for the very open-minded, presenting the numbness of paralysis, ironically, as a potential source of paroxysms of pleasure.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 19, 2008

An obscure and terrifying mental disorder leads a reporter to the strangest and then the most terrifying story of his life. A neat film noir in a very modern setting amongst people who are not all there.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 17, 2008

Quid Pro Quo hovers in a noir-shaded twilight zone where repressed memories and guilt merge in an obsession with physical and emotional paralysis.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 13, 2008

The movie exerts a certain appeal without ever being convincing.

| Jun 13, 2008

This warped masochistic cousin to David Cronenberg's Crash - not to be confused with the Oscar winner of the same name -- is well worth seeing for Farmiga's stunning performance.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 13, 2008

While a good director can spin a worthy movie from any subject, first-timer Carlos Brooks does surprisingly little with the jaw-dropper of a topic he chose.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 13, 2008

This odd little fugue of a movie would be implausible, even laughable, if it weren't also marvelously played, visually composed and plotted with the utmost cunning.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 13, 2008

If you were a fan of David Cronenberg's Crash, you might just be the target audience for Quid Pro Quo, a perverse psychological drama about able-bodied people who yearn to become disabled.

| Original Score: C- | Jun 13, 2008

The film is lightest on its feet when it shakes off the Red Shoe Diaries foreboding for moments of sly irony

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 13, 2008