Could have snapped up the pacing a bit, but the slower tempo gives us more time to sit back and enjoy the performances.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 1, 2021

It's a lukewarm endeavor a bit warmed over by notable cast members flogging through a ludicrous plot about an inane religious serial killer.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Sep 5, 2019

The Calling is not strictly a connect-the-dots thriller: we see some plot twists coming, but not all, and some mysteries are left unsolved.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 17, 2019

The outcome is shrug-worthy rather than shocking.

| Feb 28, 2015

There are pleasures to be found in the crotchety maternal interplay between Sarandon and Ellen Burstyn ...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 11, 2014

Working against the sublime, hilly backdrop of Dundas, director Jason Stone keeps his pacing elegant and the atmosphere moody.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2014

The dread barely bobs above sea level, despite efficient performances from Sarandon and the talented, underworked supporting cast.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 10, 2014

All in all, a solid if rather daft film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2014

The Canadian serial-killer-hunt script is less satisfying and heavily signposted throughout, so that even Sarandon's Detective Hazel Micallef seems a bit bored by it and sends out her new deputy (Topher Grace) to do most of the legwork.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 10, 2014

There is almost nothing about The Calling that sets it aside from a hundreds of crime thrillers that are churned out from Hollywood year in, year out.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 10, 2014

Dark and haunting, this Canadian thriller has an offhanded style that balances a grisly mystery with real-life humour, plus characters who are easy to identify with.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 10, 2014

The Calling isn't so much an awful film as a flat and unremarkable one ...

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 10, 2014

A parable for assisted suicide which keeps its political hand well covered.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2014

It's all quite ridiculous but it has some creepy scenes ...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 9, 2014

It's handsomely shot, filmed with a crisp, chilly edge and plenty of natural light. But the visual realism locks horns with a ruinously predictable - and increasingly silly - narrative.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 9, 2014

This engaging -- but, crucially, never quite gripping -- thriller is a gloomy yet classy affair.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 8, 2014

More character-driven than gory, The Calling is a slow-burner, but it's laced with pitch-black humour and appealing character quirks.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 6, 2014

Too one-dimensional to be a character study, and too dull to be a thriller, The Calling is disappointing not just because of its bland, procedural tone but also because it completely wastes a truly impressive cast.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 6, 2014

An engrossing psycho-thriller.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 8, 2014

The Calling breathes new life into a moribund genre by touching oft-ignored themes and offering a bit of introspection to go along with the obligatory slashed throats and biblical portents.

| Sep 8, 2014