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ANTICHRISTMovie Reviews
Horror drama about a bereaved couple whose retreat to their woodland cabin, to heal after the death of their toddler, has unintended results. Cast:Willem Dafoe, Charlotte GainsbourgDirector:Lars von TrierRelease Date:October 23, 2009DVD Release:November 9, 2010From:IFCLength:1 hr. 48 min.
Antichrist played in key cities to mixed reviews. • Peter Keough wrote in the Boston Phoenix, "I'm torn between dismissing the film as gross-out juvenilia and regarding it as raw religious mythmaking." • And Michael Phillips wrote in the Chicago Tribune, "...may be objectionable in a hundred different ways, but it is undeniable and cinematic... risks complete disruption every second.... the film will, in its way, endure." More Reviews Below...
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "...shocking us is von Trier's point -- or we can assume it is. Doing so at least gives us something to hold onto when most of the movie seems so maddeningly pointless."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 579 words, 10/22/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: POOR(cg) "...a particularly misogynistic torture-porn film.... excruciating in its slow pacing and pointless visual digressions... seems intent on making the audience miserable."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 470 words, 10/23/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "The scandal of 'Antichrist' is not that it is grisly or upsetting but that it is so ponderous, so conceptually thin and so dull."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 825 words, 10/23/09
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "Artfully horrific but artificial and soulless... results in some 'Saw'-style torture and self-mutilation of the most intense nature."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 163 words, 10/23/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Both Dafoe and Gainsbourg have been risk takers, as anyone working with von Trier must be. The ways they're called upon to act in this film are extraordinary."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 892 words, 10/22/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...slowly, painfully and with a very dull knife.... a tangled mess of sex, evil and death... It feels neither avant-garde nor experimental -- just misguided."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 10/23/09
V.A. Musetto, New York Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Very few actors would have the courage to allow von Trier to put them through what Dafoe and Gainsbourg experienced in the name of art."(See all of V.A. Musetto's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 385 words, 10/23/09
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...may be objectionable in a hundred different ways, but it is undeniable and cinematic... risks complete disruption every second.... the film will, in its way, endure."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 503 words, 10/23/09
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "...you have to be up for a castration, a clitoridectomy, and a lot of symbolism. You have to be up for watching Dafoe and Gainsbourg humiliate themselves."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 555 words, 10/26/09
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...symptomatic of a director losing heart.... the film fractures into a series of stunts, provocations and shocks without conveying a sense of deeper malevolence."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 784 words, 11/13/09
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "Lars von Trier strains his enterprise past the breaking point... Still, 'Antichrist' is not without its qualities -- notably von Trier's boundless sarcasm and skill with actors."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 724 words, 10/21/09
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Gainsbourg squirms believably with conflicting emotions in a difficult, courageous role, while Dafoe delivers a powerful, understated performance..."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 207 words, 11/12/09
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...for all its misogyny and sadistic violence, the film possesses moments of genuine psychological tension and startling beauty..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 227 words, 10/23/09
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "Von Trier and his actors had almost created an intense, real film about grief, darkness and the impulse to live. And then von Trier got frightened, turned away in fear..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 409 words, 11/20/09
Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News: POOR(cg) "...a unique form of cruel and unusual punishment: an unrelenting orgy of graphic sex, violence and cynicism that also manages to be wildly pretentious."(See all of Christopher Kelly's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 300 words, 11/20/09
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: WEAK(cg) "Trouble is, it all adds up to not much.... What began as a searing look at almost unbearable pain devolves into an exploitative horror movie."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 01/29/10
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: POOR(cg) "With the brutal, and brutally pretentious, 'Antichrist,' the Danish provocateur and founder of the Dogma school (rules to make your movie by) has finally gone too far."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 600 words, 10/30/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...it is exactly the movie von Trier wanted to make and a piece of staggeringly pure cinema. On at least one level, it's also hateful."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 820 words, 10/23/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...exists in an orbit all its own.... The film is sexually transgressive from its first moments, and fiercely gorgeous."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 713 words, 11/13/09
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...among von Trier's more cryptic films, and possibly his most pretentious. Still, like a road catastrophe, it's at once appalling and fascinating."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 327 words, 10/30/09
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "Lars von Trier strains his enterprise past the breaking point... Still, 'Antichrist' is not without its qualities -- notably von Trier's boundless sarcasm and skill with actors."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 724 words, 10/21/09
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: MODERATE(cg) "Von Trier says he was suffering from severe bouts of depression when he shot the movie. See 'Antichrist,' and you'll know the feeling."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 216 words, 10/16/09
Glenn Sumi, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Gainsbourg squirms believably with conflicting emotions in a difficult, courageous role, while Dafoe delivers a powerful, understated performance..."(See all of Glenn Sumi's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 207 words, 11/12/09
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "The scandal of 'Antichrist' is not that it is grisly or upsetting but that it is so ponderous, so conceptually thin and so dull."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 825 words, 10/23/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: MODERATE "My first -- and then frequent -- instinct was the emotional equivalent of duck-and-cover.... repellent, powerful and ludicrous... piles horror on horror with pitiless passion."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 290 words, 10/23/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...slowly, painfully and with a very dull knife.... a tangled mess of sex, evil and death... It feels neither avant-garde nor experimental -- just misguided."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 10/23/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety: POOR "Lars von Trier pursues personal demons of sexual, religious and esoteric bodily harm, as well as feelings about women that must be a comfort to those closest to him."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 909 words, 05/17/09
Peter Brunette, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "Visually gorgeous to a fault and teeming with grandiose if often fascinating ideas that overwhelm the modest story that serves as their vehicle..."(See all of Peter Brunette's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 05/18/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: POOR "...slowly, painfully and with a very dull knife.... a tangled mess of sex, evil and death... It feels neither avant-garde nor experimental -- just misguided."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 10/23/09
A.O. Scott, New York Times: POOR "The scandal of 'Antichrist' is not that it is grisly or upsetting but that it is so ponderous, so conceptually thin and so dull."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 825 words, 10/23/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: MODERATE "My first -- and then frequent -- instinct was the emotional equivalent of duck-and-cover.... repellent, powerful and ludicrous... piles horror on horror with pitiless passion."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 290 words, 10/23/09
27.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Antichrist's reviews are separated by an average 27.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Antichrist (36 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Antichrist's reviews cover 66.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 19,696 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 547 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 38.1 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Antichrist's reviews on average broke 38.1 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Antichrist's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Antichrist (36 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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