Antichrist
IFC Films | Release Date: October 23, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
10
Negative:
11
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Possibly the best argument against couples therapy ever, Antichrist is a tour-de-force trip inside the mind of a dangerously depressed man. That man is Danish filmmaker von Trier, and he has gone on record as having conceived and executed Antichrist in the wake of a deep depression. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
More than anything else, I responded to the performances. Feature films may be fiction, but they are certainly documentaries showing actors in front of a camera. 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. They respond without hesitation. More important, they convince. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Like a nightmare you recall during waking hours, and then only in its vast outlines, Antichrist has the power to haunt beyond words. For better and for worse, it is exactly the movie von Trier wanted to make and a piece of staggeringly pure cinema. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
I’m inclined to agree with a colleague who told me he could swing with Antichrist when it was simply unstable but couldn’t go with it when it turned insane. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
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. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Antichrist is a boldly personal film, tossing all von Trier’s ideas about faith, fear, and human nature into an unfettered phantasmagoria, full of repulsive visions and fierce scorn. It’s also the most lush-looking movie von Trier has made in about 20 years. Read full review
80
EmpireKim Newman
A star rating is not much help, since von Trier’s self-conscious arrogance is calculated to split audiences into extremist factions, but Antichrist delivers enough beauty, terror and wonder to qualify as the strangest and most original horror movie of the year. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Taken as a whole, Antichrist is a gorgeous, mesmerizing construction, and almost every one of its frames shimmers with demented, imaginary life... It offers more proof, if we need any, that von Trier is one of the most accomplished cinema artists of our time, and also perhaps the most deeply trapped in his own head. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
I can’t deny this is filled with powerfully primal images, but at least one of them--an eviscerated fox that bellows at Dafoe, “Chaos reigns!”­--made me burst out laughing. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
By turns repellent, powerful and ludicrous, Antichrist piles horror on horror with pitiless passion. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There’s a lot of hate in this film. But a lot of talent, too. It borders on despicable, but you can’t ignore it. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Bottom line: Do I recommend Antichrist? Tough to do, but tough not to. For those who are intrigued by the controversy, it may be worth the sacrifice, if only so you can evaluate it from a position of knowledge. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin Wilson
Tests the loyalty of fans that may expect his work to be extreme, but not to such an extent. Read full review
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