The film is a fascinating psychological study, both on the effects on the audience and the arc of the characters as we are see them (and ourselves) slowly consumed by this bleak, murderous, poverty stricken town in rural Australia.

| Jan 12, 2021

The grimy social realism and gurgling torture scenes place director Justin Kurzel's startling debut midway between Animal Kingdom and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 19, 2012

Your appreciation of this Australian horror movie will depend on whether you think its artistry justifies its unrelenting ugliness.

| Mar 15, 2012

The film is a chilling study of an evil, dominant personality and his victims.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 15, 2012

Overlong and grim to the point where some scenes are virtually unwatchable...

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 2, 2012

An impressive but exceptionally disturbing feature debut from Australian director Justin Kurzel that pushes the new wave of Aussie crime films up a notch.

| Mar 1, 2012

This distressing infiltration of a family of young boys by a charismatic psychopath rewards with a stylistic talent that feels entirely new.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 1, 2012

The Snowtown Murders builds into a multipronged horror effort in which the torture and murder on-screen are matched by the psychologically convincing disintegration of a previously sympathetic protagonist.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 1, 2012

What is it with first-time Australian filmmakers and ultraviolent true-crime movies about thuggish underclass families?

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 1, 2012

A movie that heaps so much dank atmosphere on its suburbanites, you can't help but sigh with relief when events turn to serial killing (finally?).

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 29, 2012

A dull thriller of ultra-bleak withholding.

| Feb 28, 2012

Whatever one ends up thinking about The Snowtown Murders, it's difficult to deny that it's a deeply impressive work.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 26, 2012

The result is a movie that can be admired in many respects from a distance but is progressively less emotionally engaging.

| Feb 23, 2012

Ingeniously passive-aggressive cinema that places great stock in its own thorniness without ever resorting to idle shock-broking.

| Original Score: A- | Nov 21, 2011

A true story told with rare skill by a new director from whom a great deal more will be heard.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 19, 2011

Snowtown presents a world of moral nightmare and sits us right inside it, to feel the pulse and processes of evil as if they were our own.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 17, 2011

It's one of the most disturbing movies of our moment, not just for the true-crime subject, but because Kurzel's searing technique and expertise with actors get so far under your skin.

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

Thought provoking, but leeringly nasty and deeply unsettling. This is one that will linger with you for days.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 17, 2011

It reminded me, oddly, of Richard Fleischer's sordid history of John Christie in 10 Rillington Place - here is the killer; here is his shabby habitat, and here are his crimes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 2011

'Snowtown' is an uncomfortable film to watch, but its sickening suburban horror is made bearable by Kurzel's rigorous restraint...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 15, 2011