Miss Weaver plays the victim with quite astonishing intensity, and deals with Mr. Kingsley in a manner that is quite convincing.

| Apr 21, 2022

Polanski manages to size the fundamental components of the mystery and suspense so that the atmosphere of the film is sinister in some scenes. But what I see hardly captivates me. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 6/10 | Jul 20, 2020

It's based on the gripping three-character play by Ariel Dorfman.

| Original Score: B | Jul 10, 2011

Even by their high standards, the performances of Weaver and Kingsley here are impressive, and Polanski ratchetts up the tension nicely. A chilling and thought-provoking piece.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 19, 2010

The material is well served by director Roman Polanski, who knows well how to instill a subtle, claustrophobic sense of dread in an audience and has put together a rather elegant potboiler.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 19, 2010

Polanski certainly gets the maximum voltage and precision out of his story and actors, keeping us preternaturally alert to shifting power relationships and delayed revelations.

| Feb 19, 2010

Kingsley shrewdly tantalizes the viewer about his identity, and gets to deliver the text's most riveting monologue at the end. The lesser-known Wilson may be the first among equals, impressing strongly as the equivocating husband.

Full Review | May 26, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2007

Polanski kicks the movie up to a level of emotional violence rare in English-speaking films.

| Original Score: A | Jul 29, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 29, 2007

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Feb 18, 2007

Polanksi's direction is crisp and precise but he doesn't resolve basic problems of the stage-to-screen transfer: The tale is claustrophobic (mostly limited to one set) and schematic, with all three characters serving as ideological mouthpieces.

| Original Score: B- | Jun 12, 2006

A relentless, superb thriller.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 26, 2006

Polanski wisely never opens out the action from the remote clifftop house. In keeping things claustrophobic, close-up and ambivalent, he heightens the suspense (not to mention the sexual tension).

| Jan 26, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 27, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 28, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 23, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 9, 2004