It's a handsomely mounted film that's very cinematic with its visual styling.... And in its lead, model and actor Wilson, Evil has a charismatic and strappingly handsome protagonist.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 24, 2019

A powerful tale of boarding school repression based on a novel written by a Swede very much in the Stieg Larsson mold.

| Feb 28, 2012

On the surface it seems very familiar ... and not altogether inaccessible to American audiences, but it also has the depth and substance we expect from our imports.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 17, 2007

Powerful film where the transformation is painful to watch, but leaves you feeling hope. It took me by surprise at several turns and stayed with me long after the final credits rolled.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 11, 2006

Add the mystique of a foreign language, and suddenly the U.S. considers it an art film.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 28, 2006

The narrative has the same familiarity as the setting as Erik has to fight forces bigger than himself, giving the audience a story that justifies (and, not so secretly, revels in) its violence. Call it Fight Club at a boarding school.

| Jun 11, 2006

Extremely watchable, even if it never goes as deep as it should.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 5, 2006

The second half of 'Evil' takes this genre into new and challenging territory.

| Apr 12, 2006

Hafstrm's dramatic sense is ... pedestrian and snail's-pace obvious.

| Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 1, 2006

Movies like Evil entertain us by serving sweet revenge on a platter, and director Mikael Hfstrm manipulates emotions more intelligently than most.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 31, 2006

Wilson, who plays Erik, had never been in a film before Evil -- which was nominated for a best foreign-language Oscar in 2004 -- and there's no reason that he can't make many more of them.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 31, 2006

Its stuffy, private-school scenes nearly turn the whole thing into The Dead Pugilist's Society, but this Swedish import does have its chilling moments.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 31, 2006

Director Mikael Hfstrom exudes no subtlety and lets the blood flow, at odds with the nonviolent moral message this Oscar-nominated film aims to deliver.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 31, 2006

A commentary on the troubling gray area between acceptable and unacceptable forms of violence, especially where the molding of boys into 'real men' is concerned.

Full Review | Mar 30, 2006

Solid enough, its main flaw is a sense of restraint -- it never quite ventures into the surreal darkness of the obviously comparable If...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 25, 2006

Director Mikael Hafstrom demonstrates a sure hand with the material and is definitely a talent to keep an eye on.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 24, 2006

The way it plays out, Evil feeds the audience's bloodlust as much as it decries the worst acts of its characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 23, 2006

So unsubtle as to verge on the comical ... this didactic drama is set safely in the past and says nothing about the culture of conformity at all costs that hasn't been said before.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 10, 2006

While it's sometimes obvious, Hafstrom's film is so emotionally satisfying on a gut level -- like Rebel Without a Cause -- that it holds you from start to finish.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 10, 2006

Hafstrom ... keeps us guessing as he confidently builds suspense.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 10, 2006